"Well, you signed your own death warrent." Velina was really not surprised that he refused her terms and the look in his eye told her that an answers he gave would likely be either false or too cryptic to be helpful. "I should just let you here to slowly bleed out and die or die in agony from infection. However I will at least grant you a quick death."

Velina once move moved in with her daggers, but this time she was not moving slowly and offering the cleric a chance to decline her advance. No, this time she was going to kill him quickly. For the first time in her life, her skills would be used against an actual person. She knew she would forever see those glaring eyes in her nightmares.

Letting out a triumphant roar as his opponent fell, Almyrikon turned around searching for something else to satisfy his hunger for battle. Seeing another one of their kind standing, he charges in after it. One of his allies was already there. But they wouldn't be needed when the bearspaw joined the fight. "Alright! You're next!" He cries in a deep throaty growling voice as he charged in.

(OOC: I'm heading to the one Kannizan is currently interacting with. I am aware we're not fighting him yet, but I'm doing a bull rush on him, push him into a tree, or somewhere where he can't move. If that doesn't work, then good ol' swing at him. Also, and intimidate check would be nice. And appropriate.)

Group mambers still surveying the situation in front of them, will hear Bearspaw scream defianc at his fallen foe, then turn to look for another opponent. Spotting the half-elf near Kannizan, he rushes toward them the rage still evident in his twisted visage, the axe held high ...

Those of the party who glance back toward Ether will see that Maranda has ridden up next to him and is speaking softly and intently to him, her arms emphasizing whatever it is she is saying. After a few minutes, she pauses, looking sadly and intently toward him, then turns her horse and spurs it into a full gallop back in the direction you came.

The screams of Bearspaw made Kannizan snap his head and look in the direction. Seeing him charge, Kannizan knows this might not end well. "Look, half-elf. I promised you I would let the entire group decide, so don't worry. He may rough you up a little bit, but I'll make sure he doesn't kill you. And if he wants to touch you, he'll have to go through me." Kannizan then turned, facing away from the barbarian, so he could position himself in the way but keep an eye on his quarry. "Bearspaw, we are not to harm him until everyone decides on his punishment!" He yelled this as loud as he could, hoping he'd be heard.

"He tried to kill us! Now you let him go? I don't think so!" Almyrikon continued to advance towards the enemy. If Kannizan was dumb enough to get in his way, then so be it. He would be knocked away, then the man would be in his grasp.

(OOC: Okay, if Kannizan is gonna stand in my way, then I'm charging with an overrun involved, not just charging.)

"Look brute. We need to able to function as one body, and keep peace and contentment within the group. And we're not letting him go yet. We'll decide what to do after everyone agrees. That's why I still have him. So calm your bloodlust, and if he doesn't give us what information we want, then he's all yours." Kannizan had bellowed this to the charging barbarian, and he stayed steadfast in his stance.


[[OOC. Would that be a good place to attempt to intimidate the halfelf?]]

Ether took what was whispered to him by Maranda to heart. She was weak, but he knew he could not talk her out of her decision.

"The Sin of abandonment during a quest for vengeance is grounds for the penalty of death among my camp. It is the most dire of all sins, second only to the murder of a companion during a quest. May whatever god you follow have mercy upon your soul."

Just then his barbarian companion got into a spat over what to do with the half-elf. The fastest way to dissolve a party was to attack each other. This had to be stopped. Perhaps the situation would resolve itself...

Ether raised his voice to be heard by everyone in the area.

"Zealousness in the pursuit of revenge is no vice, and mercy is no virtue. Thus is the Dogma of Shevarash. Maranda has abandoned our quest," he bellowed, nodding to her, "An action which deserves the most severe of penalty. However she has chosen to donate her inheritance as a penance, and with the blood of this... otherwise innocent surrogate," Ether nods to the half-elf, "Shevarash will be appeased."

He knew deep down that the half-elf was not innocent, and that his dogma required him to leave no survivors from this encounter. But it was also wise not to go against the wishes of his companions. Since their leader was unfit to do so, he had no commander to which to listen. He would dispatch of the irrevocably evil cleric of Bane and the half-elf eventually, but now at least he had a good reason to do so aside from his Dogma.

Without further haste he knocked an arrow and let it fly, aiming straight at the half-elf.

"With the loss of our heir, we inherit the mansion. I will NOT let the life of a petty bandit interfere with our quest."

While most of the group may or may not have heard Eth4r's shouted words, Kannizan and Bearspaw were currently focused on each other for the few seconds it took for Ether to declare his intent.

Even as Velina quickly ended the possible threat the cleric posed by ending his life, Bearspaw was charging toward Kannizan, intending to knock the dwarf aside to get to the half-elf, However, he seriously misjudged the stability of the wide and stocky dwarven frame, the weight evenly spread and a center of gravity lower to the ground than his own. Kannizan tried to "clothesline" the barbarian, forearm across the stomach, but Bearspaw simply brushed the blow aside and made to push past the dwarf. But the dwarf just as simply leaned sidways and stuck his leg between the barbarian's own, tangling them both up and bringing them both down.

At the same time, Ether, now righteously indignant and angry, brought to bear the tenets of his faith and loosed the arrow that he was putting to his bow even as he was speaking. Seeing that the barbarian was challenging even his own companion to get to him, the half-elf attempted to grab the hilt of the sword he had uried point-down between himself and Kannizan. he never made it. Ether's arrow flew true and struck the half-elf full in the ribs, spinning the unfortunate around and off-balancing him. He fell hard, but attempted to rise almost immediately, cursing incoherently.

Velina wwatched the blood slowly stop flowing and the angry light in the clerics eyes fade. Moments later he lay dead. She felt no remorse for what she did; he had led an attack on her party but neither did she feel elation over her first kill. In fact, she felt nothing.

The rest of the group had their attention focused on the remaining enemy so Velina took time to search the body of the now dead cleric for any items that appeared useful or interesting.

Stating once more for the record, "Zealousness is no vice, mercy is no virtue, when in the pursuit of a quest. May your blood fulfill the sin of our once-leader."

And hoping to end it there, he knocked a second arrow and prepared to fire, hopefully ending this poor sap's life and the party infighting all at once.

Kannizan hit the ground hard, but it seemed Bearspaw hit harder. He turned his head just as he heard Ether's words, and watched the arrow strike the man. In his rage at the cleric of Sheverash, he completely forgot about Bearspaw. While he was down, he began to yell at Ether. "Tell me, Ether, how your beliefs and dogma should allow you the right to choose whether this man lives or dies? I've said it once, and I'll say it once more. We decide this man's fate as a group. If you hoped taking the matter into your own hands would cease the fighting, then you did the wrong things for the right reasons." Kannizan watched the man bleeding, and knew that nothing he could say would change a fanatic of a god. I hate religion, he thought, as he watched his idea bleed out onto the ground. This man has the capacity to be just as good as any of them. He wanted to lop off both Bearspaw and Ether's heads at that moment, but he held his ax at bay, watching as the man stumbled up, swearing. he simply sighed, stood up, turned his back to the half elf, and offered bearspaw his hand. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before judging a dwarf by his height." He kept his head turned away, not daring to watch the mans slaughter by a so called righteous man.

Still with an arrow trained, fully intent on loosing it, Ether spoke.

"I shall give you the sermon later. Suffice it to say that nobody but yourself had the desire to spare this bandit, this thief. Furthermore, our leader has just committed the sin of abandonment. The life of an enemy is the least of our concern. I do not always enjoy my duties and responsibilities, but I swore an oath and intend to uphold it."

Velina heard the conversations going on. "Out of curiosity Ether, how does the heir's abandonment of the quest make you judge and jury? Keep in mind that I volunteered to follow the heir, never said anything about following you." Velina went back to her searching of the body.

It seemed things were going to get interesting rather soon.

Almyrikon stood up, accepting the hand of the dwarf... the little man did stand in his way. And he was impressed. However, this still left the question of the bandit.

Almyrikon took a quick move toward the still standing traitor. At least someone had agreed he should die. He was getting tired, but he still had enough strength in his rage to finish this. With a bellow, almost as mighty as a grizzly bear itself, he moved toward the elf and hefted his axe, intent on bring it down and finishing the bandit.

After helping Bearspaw to his feet, Kannizan walked off before he could prepare the finishing blow. He heard Velina's words and agreed. "So our heir is gone. If we're working as a team, our leaders need to be elected, not a self proclaimed judge. But, what's done is done. I suppose I see his need to die, but I still believe the man could've changed." Kannizan put his arrow in front of Ether's arrow. "The barbarian will handle that one. You can ease up."