The complicating factor is that he also betrayed the Odessans, letting us in on their plan and sending us here to stop it. And, frankly, he's given Wydmoor the closest thing to an army that it's ever had, and probably put us in the unique position to save this city and end this war. I know some of you aren't comfortable with moral grey areas, but we are stuck in one now sure as a dwarf's hammer. I can think of some ways out of this mess, but all of them are either going to put our necks on the line or require is to politic and lie through our teeth.

That theory aside, however, whose to say what's good and evil? Based on what Edrell (or his look-alike) said, he believes that those with a lot of money in the bank--the Mayor, the cowardly nobles, the Wraiths, etc--were evil. They punished the people of Wydmoor to further their own financial and political interests. The Silverwalkers, and by extension Edrell, on the other hand, were good. We risked our lives to protect and empower the innocents of the Wydmoor region--the citizens of Wydmoor, the Onrarch halflings, etc--from they tyranny of the Odessans, the elements, supernatural terrors, and their own leaders. "Edrell" thinks he is good, he considers us allies because we are good, and that the Nobles of this city, and even the Wraiths to some degree, are evil. Historically, we agree with that. While robbing a bank is certainly illegal, I'm not sure I'd call it evil. Murdering a Mayor is also illegal, but we consider ourselves good for doing it.

Get yourself ready... the way forward is only going to get a lot messier than the muddy waters we've travelled so far.

In the case of the Mayor, I directly sensed him to be evil, and his disregard for codified law in favor of tyranny required him to be removed like the swamp leech he was. Looking back, though, I am sad about the way that cleansing was done, and going forward we must insist that we stand above the "muddy waters" you mention. As my father told me, "No matter how low you find yourself, you won't get to higher ground by walking downhill."

The testimonials are very clear on this matter--sometimes the righteous must do distasteful deeds to serve the greater good. We are the greatest good in Wydmoor as far as I'm concerned. And to protect the city, we assassinated the lawfully appointed leader of the city, willfully disregarded the wishes of the city's defenders, and played an instrumental role in robbing virtually evey power broker in the city blind. It doesnt matter why we did it. It doesn't matter if we meant to do it. It doesn't matter if we knew we were doing it. All that is will matter are the facts, and if word gets out, virtually every person that matters in this city will turn against us. How can we continue to protect the city and serve the good if we are crippled by adversity?

I mean, we can say all of this inside of a Zone of Truth if needed-- but if we try to hide what has happened, and it does come out later, then our cowardly act of dishonesty will get us beheaded. Honestly, I've just assumed with all the no-good snoops in town, we've been watched pretty much the whole time, so it's pointless to lie about what we've done and seen. Let's just be honest in talking to the War Council about our intentions and deeds.

My proposal is for us to reclaim the warrens for the halflings and the refugees, ensure there's food for everyone, send Odessa home, and to tell the truth about what happened with Edrell. Someone robbed the bank, it may have been Edrell, it may have been a Guild disguise, or an Odessan disguise, but whoever it was had enough secret spy intel to tell us how to thwart this Odessan attack on the Mage's Tower-- which we did and saved the lives of everyone!

In the end, I'll even tell them myself what I know because they surely understand I wouldn't risk violating my Traveler oaths to lie.

Is there another proposal? The only other one that comes to mind for me is to chase down whoever stole the money and return it, and I don't know if that's doable in the middle of this war.

Where I agree with you is that we don't need to lie to everyone here, and I'm glad you have the wisdom to see that a little information control may be necessary until we get this city safe. Telling the entire war room may be a little overboard--if the Wydmoor nobles become aware that all their money has been stolen there may be a panic, or at least a backlash against the Silverwalkers, that will severely comprimise the defense of the city and the refugees. But I do think it may be safe to be frank with the Wraiths, because I think I can sell to them that our intentions were pure and that our accomplishments have significantly advanced their agenda. How do we feel about that?

Beyond the silly politics, I know defenses are of utmost important right now, too. It probably makes sense for us to use the City Magus's Keep as our temporary base and protect it. What do you think? Regardless of what Edrell is up to, he's not here to protect it from invasions such as what we just saw. Clearly we're the only ones who can keep the teleport ward safe until the War Council comes up with another plan.

Would LE or Egg be able to figure out what magic safeguards remain intact here or in other parts of the Keep and see if we can get them operational?

When we talked outside of the Thieves' Guilds' trap, you were very adamant that we need a plan to attack them and purge the city of their evil immediately. Now, if Wydmoor's leaders knew what we suspect to be true--that the Guild robbed the bank--then virtually all Wydmoor's power brokers could be quickly united against them. While I may have doubted that the Silverwalkers alone could defeat the guild, I do believe this city, united against them, could free the good people of Wydmoor from their grasp. Our hunch is that Edrell is a good guy, that he travelled to the bank to stop the robbery, and that he alerted us of the Odessan attack. Even though we can't be certain of this, if we present what we believe... carefully... we may be able to finally launch an effective attack against the Guild. It might require speaking with a little more certainty than we actually have, but it's not exactly going to be a lie. Is that something you are comfortable with? Is purging the city of evil important enough to blur the line between what we know to be true and what we feel in our hearts is true?

As for Ed.. Man, I don't know. Assuming it was actually him doing the stealing, we need to get that cash back, punish Ed for taking it, and distribute the cash to all the folks who need it. But that's a less pressing goal than the situation in the city. Can't let all those people suffer unnecessarily. And, man, who knows. Maybe Ed did what he did for some, you know, reasonable reason that we just don't know right now. Whatever the case, I want to figure it out, punish Ed if he deserves it, and make things right.

She sighs, heavy with the burdens and sorrow that she has been holding in for so long.

Let Edrell take the money. Good riddance. Those who only care for money will hopefully follow it out and go elsewhere. Say it's the Thieves Guild- perfect. Let the greedy aristocrats and thieves go after each other- just ensure our streets don't turn into a battleground. I say we let those of us with the gift of speech turn the greedy against each other and get them out of the city. The rest of us will work to get this city back to people and the people back on their feet.

Right now the people NEED us. They need those who know how to receive the blessings of the land without destroying it she looks at Al, they need the magically gifted to unravel the mysteries that have plagued this city for ages beneath the covers she looks at LE, they need the protectors to welcome the weary and protect what little they have she looks at Mose, they need those with skill to help them construct and plan she looks at Quin, and they need to do this while keeping those who would exploit them out of their hair she looks at Germain.

I can't say I agree with how these events have unfolded but if there is one thing we can do, it is take what appears to be a miserable situation and make the best of it. We are the heroes to the people, not the War Council that sits protected in their high and lofty towers. She waves her hand dismissively. Let them do what they like, our duty is to the people here. We have not come this far and worked this hard to let them down- and we are to whom they look.

Like Edrell, her face is striking, but more handsome than beautiful. Her long, raven-black hair has come free of its braids and now splays wildly, clumping together where it has begun to absorb the blood of the other fallen Odessans that slowly spreads across the floor. Staring at her face up close, her elven features are far more noticeable and pronounced. The traditional pointed ears, the angular features, the almond-shaped eyes. She has Edrell's eyes, you cannot help but think to yourself.

Although impossible to reckon her age, if she were a human like yourself, you would imagine her to be in her late-twenties or early-thirties. His younger sister, then, you think.

Her armor and weapons, which so recently demonstrated extraordinary qualities, radiates little to no magic what-so-ever. You recognize her weapon as a spiked chain, but far more ornate than the simple iron contraption Qa used to swing around. The links are dark green and made of ironwood (the only part that reads magical), with many of the links having small, thorn-like barbs. The tip of the weapon, which once glowed with a bright pink light, has gone dark. While Qa's old weapon simply had a fist-sized spiked ball at the end, the business end of this weapon is an intricately carved pink crystal, fashioned to look like a rose in bloom.

Her armor is also amazingly well-crafted and, although made of rare and exotic Mithral, is non-magical and form fitting, obviously crafted especially for her. An indigo crystal is ensconced in the center of the breastplate, with a series of complicated whorls and designs radiating outward (or inward?).

When he stands with the group, he begins to speak, with a voice subdued and sorrowful. Kimi, I'm sorry, but while I'm not the politician that Germain aspires to be, I do know that one inevitable truth is that a power void is always filled, and it is usually by the ones with the least scruples and restraint. I think we could do our best to try to nudge a few of the players that we feel aren't quite as bad into position ahead of the obvious evils, but I have to say I don't know how much it would actually improve the daily life of the common citizen. Even the best of the people we know here still believes that the status quo from shortly before the war was perfectly acceptable. I came here looking for a place that I could do some good, clear my head of the grief of my father and the shame of my uncle, and maybe even one day have enough money and power to retire from adventuring and rebuild my father's legacy. I have a hard time seeing how I am significantly closer to any of those goals after our years of struggle here in Wydmoore. shakes his head and scowls for a moment as he straightens his back and pushes his shoulders back out of the slump that has been creeping over him I'm sorry, I don't want to just sit here and complain, I would love to do something honestly good and productive to help us climb out of this midden we have been swimming in. If Germain feels that he could retain enough Silverwalker influence long enough for us to ensure that the refuguees we brought in have at least a chance of staying in the city and not starving or wasting away from disease then I am happy to strive toward that. Otherwise, if there was an opportunity for me to clear out of this place and travel somewhere else, hopefully where skills with a blade and a decent set of morals could actually be of practical use, I have to say I'd think long and hard about taking that road. Hopefully with you at my side, but...

But... am I hearing that you want to abandon Wydmoor and go somewhere else, Quin? The rebuilding effort is going to be substantial here, and it'll be a long time after the Odessans leave before the city is really "safe" in any meaningful way. Given how hard we've worked here, I'd hate to abandoned it withouth reaping what I've sown. Kimmy... LE... Mose... are you ready to turn this city over to its fate with the Odessans gone? We need to be having a very different conversation if that what everyone is thinking here...

Let's get some specific proposals of next actions and stop with the soul-searching. We don't have time for that, frankly.

As I said before, I just want to be sure we continue to keep the pilgrims fed, let them stay inside the city, and eventually get the land of the Warrens rightfully returned and used by the poor.

What's the best plan you smarties have for making that happen? We don't have much time!

She's.... so small...

You probably all know that I'm not big on the politics of this whole situation, but I at least realize that we've probably got nearly as much power and influence as anyone else. We should use it, ya know? Stick it to the man. The first problem in keeping people fed is finding a supply of food. Ideally, we'd get all the poor folks out of the city, somewhere far enough away that they won't need to worry about Wydmoor, and start feeding them there, then start the process of teaching them to fend for themselves. But since that's probably not all that practical just now, I suppose we need to end this goofy siege and make sure the folks in charge of Wydmoor (if they're not Germain and Kimi and whoever else wants the job) know that we expect them to take care of the folks that live here. Once the siege is over, food will be easy to find and get to the folks who need it. So.. We've got a bunch of people willing to fight with us, right? Why not work with them to end the siege? I'm sure we could get all of those dudes into some critical area of the Odessan lines at a time and place that they don't expect it and get the whole darn army running back to where they came from.

Other than that, it depends on what we can get away with. I think we need to make sure that the Wraiths are on our side regarding putting the blame for the robbery on the Guild, and I can take care of that. Our new army can maybe manage the defense of the city, but given their lack of training they will be poor at best. We need to arrange to get them as much military training and management as possible. I know there are some old military men in the Geese, and I think Quinn and Mose can help a lot, but I'd like to get some more help if possible. Perhaps the Wraiths... or a noble house... If we can get them in good enough shape, I'm hoping we can convince the Wraiths to move off the defensive and attack the Odessans.

That's plenty to keep us going for the next 24 hours, I think. After that? I'll need to spend a lot of time with the Geese to identify and track the Guildsmen that have infiltrated the Guard. I think that's the next best move against the Guild while we get the city turned against them. Perhaps we should kill the many-wyrm so the lizardmen can more completely bond with the turtle temple and its guardians. I was also thinking those iron-eating bugs could do a number on the Odessan forces, and we do have all these wands of hold monster. Or possibly there is a short-term attack we could launch against either the Guild or the Odessans. I'd be curious to see what ideas Naprid and Ralth have on this matter as well...

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Notices Al and the figurine What in the world is that?

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