API tools faq
paste
Advertisement
jjhreid

How to make friends and influence people

jjhreid
Oct 22nd, 2017
64
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 15.82 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1. 01[19:55] <DMM> After a few moments, there's a stirring noise from the Copper Cultist.
  2. 01[19:55] <DMM> A few mumbled words.
  3. 06[19:55] * Hunter_Arnulf 5puts on a warm smile, taking a seat on the crate across from him.
  4. [19:55] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Wake up, sunshine."
  5. 01[19:55] <DMM> Anybody within earshot, by all means attempt an auditory-based Perception check.
  6. 01[19:55] <DMM> His head snaps up at your words.
  7. [19:55] <Hunter_Arnulf> 1d20+13
  8. [19:55] <Botchy> Hunter_Arnulf: 17:4+13
  9. [19:56] <Bard_Soranya> 1d20+11
  10. [19:56] <Botchy> Bard_Soranya: 15:4+11
  11. [19:56] <Warpriest_Bjoryr> 1d20+11
  12. [19:56] <Botchy> Warpriest_Bjoryr: 17:6+11
  13. 01[19:56] <DMM> Nothing for anybody.
  14. [19:57] <Hunter_Arnulf> "Now, before we get into the real pleasantries, what was that you were saying?"
  15. 01[19:57] <DMM> His head sways for another moment, and then stills.
  16. 01[19:57] <DMM> "You."
  17. [19:57] <Hunter_Arnulf> "Me."
  18. 06[19:57] * Hunter_Arnulf 5still seems quite cheery.
  19. 01[19:58] <DMM> He turns, presumably looking around the room.
  20. [19:58] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"I will keep things simple: You are in no position to attempt to break out, run, or engage in any magic or violence. This is an attempt at a pleasant conversation, do you understand?"
  21. 01[19:58] <DMM> He is going to immediately attempt to break free nonetheless.
  22. 06[19:58] * Hunter_Arnulf 5just bellows out "HALT."
  23. 01[19:59] <DMM> 1d20+18
  24. 04[19:59] <Botchy> DMM: 22:4+18
  25. [19:59] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5Fails.
  26. 01[19:59] <DMM> He stops struggling.
  27. [19:59] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You see? You are in no position to resist."
  28. 01[20:00] <DMM> "Fuck you. I will get free, and you will suffer. As will the boy."
  29. [20:00] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"So if you want to make this as straightforward for you as possible, we are going to have a conversation."
  30. [20:00] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Oh don't worry. We *will* free you once this conversation is done. You have my word."
  31. [20:00] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"But if you want that freedom, you are going to talk to me."
  32. [20:00] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"With clear, concise honesty."
  33. [20:00] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Am I understood?"
  34. 01[20:01] <DMM> He laughs. It's an ugly noise. Harsh.
  35. 01[20:01] <DMM> "You can't hold me. You can try, but it won't matter."
  36. [20:01] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"If you're referring to death being salvation to you, oh I am well aware."
  37. [20:02] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Hence why I'm not going to kill you. I am not going to lay a single harmful hand upon you."
  38. 01[20:02] <DMM> "I could kill myself in just a few moments. Note that I also am not."
  39. [20:02] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"I know about the trap in your helmet as well."
  40. [20:03] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"But you are correct, you are *not* trying to kill yourself. If I had to guess, that's because you don't enjoy dying very much, do you?"
  41. 01[20:03] <DMM> He shakes his head, hanging it slightly, before looking back up at you. "I don't care for it. But who does?"
  42. 01[20:04] <DMM> "Worse things have happened to me, and will happen to you."
  43. [20:04] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Ah, I've nearly done it a few times myself. Never very fun."
  44. [20:04] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"I'm certain they have. Hence why I won't be doing those things either."
  45. 01[20:04] <DMM> "What is it that you want to know, exactly?"
  46. [20:04] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"We'll start simple, and maybe we can build a little trust from there."
  47. 01[20:04] <DMM> "Of course."
  48. [20:05] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"How about a name? Copper and porcupine both seem a bit lame, and we'll probably see you again anyway."
  49. [20:05] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"So it would be nice to have something to address you by before you try to kill us the *next* time."
  50. 01[20:06] <DMM> "Copper will be sufficient."
  51. [20:06] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"No it won't. Come on, just a first name. We're not devils here, I can't *do* anything with your name."
  52. 01[20:06] <DMM> He doesn't offer anything further.
  53. [20:06] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"...Fine."
  54. [20:06] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You tired, Copper?"
  55. 01[20:07] <DMM> "No."
  56. [20:08] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Ah, color me impressed. Beaten within an inch of your life twice, probably met a few routine beatings from one of my comrades, and *not* tired."
  57. [20:08] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Either you're a liar, or you're blessed with some sort of immunity to fatigue."
  58. [20:08] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"That or my other comrade's healing of you whisked away any wear and tear."
  59. 01[20:09] <DMM> He remains quiet.
  60. [20:09] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Well, since I won't get a name, can I hear a little bit about yourself? The usual boasts you big warrior types tend to be fond of. There has to be a few things under your belt for us to recognize."
  61. [20:09] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Besides being the dragon cult's resident beatstick."
  62. 01[20:10] <DMM> "No."
  63. [20:10] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Nothing? You've done nothing worth recognizing or being intimidated by?"
  64. 01[20:11] <DMM> "I didn't say that. I said I'm not going to tell you."
  65. [20:11] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Why not? Once you face us a third time, we'll be acquaintances by that point."
  66. [20:12] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Your cult already tries to intimidate the masses with dragon attacks. Might as well add a little fear factor based on what everyone who aren't the dragons has done."
  67. 01[20:12] <DMM> "Because you're a temporary annoyance. We'll claim your-"
  68. 01[20:12] <DMM> He pauses.
  69. 01[20:13] <DMM> His voice is more venomous now. A low growl.
  70. 01[20:13] <DMM> "The /boy/."
  71. 06[20:13] * Hunter_Arnulf 5grins.
  72. [20:13] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You know, I once told someone those exact same five words. Temporary annoyance."
  73. [20:13] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"It's a real offense to human persistence, you know. Bastard kept annoying me for another five years."
  74. [20:13] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Could you really handle five more years of me? Five more years of my friends?"
  75. [20:14] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Just this conversation probably makes your head ache, doesn't it?"
  76. 01[20:14] <DMM> "I need you to understand something, Grunewald."
  77. 01[20:15] <DMM> "I have faced worse than you, and I will again. You have /nothing/ to threaten me with. I don't fear death, and if you keep me for long enough..."
  78. 01[20:15] <DMM> He laughs quietly.
  79. [20:15] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Yet again, same words I've spewed over and over."
  80. [20:15] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"I was still a novice to headhunting at the time."
  81. [20:16] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"The fact that's your tone makes me think you're a bit more of a greenhorn than I thought."
  82. [20:16] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Maybe that's what's annoying you. That you're still trying to prove yourself, yet you keep facing veterans who pulverize you every time they meet you."
  83. [20:16] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You want to earn more than a copper /helmet/, don't you?"
  84. 01[20:16] <DMM> He laughs again.
  85. 01[20:17] <DMM> "I will earn more than you can possibly imagine, Grunewald."
  86. [20:17] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You're just provin' me right you know."
  87. [20:17] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You're not gonna be able to earn much if you keep dying."
  88. [20:17] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"And look at you. You're tied up in an enemy location, having a nice lil' chat with one of these enemies."
  89. [20:18] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Typically, there's a three strike rule to these things. You're already on strike two if our first encounter was your only real fuck-up."
  90. [20:18] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"So I just got one more real question to ask you right now before the real juicy stuff: Do you think you're genuinely worth keeping around if you keep screwing the pooch like this?"
  91. [20:18] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Do you think you'll be rewarded for your failures?"
  92. 01[20:19] <DMM> "I don't expect to be."
  93. [20:19] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Well, you've already failed twice."
  94. [20:19] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"The only thing you're earning right now is justification for a permanent death from your own *allies*."
  95. [20:19] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You and I have both seen how the /fodder/ is treated."
  96. 01[20:20] <DMM> "You're speaking about something you scarcely understand."
  97. [20:20] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Then enlighten me on where I misunderstand."
  98. [20:20] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Or maybe I'll just keep annoying you with misinterpretations."
  99. 01[20:21] <DMM> "You aren't annoying me. If your only leverage against me is irritation, I don't see this /interrogation/ going anywhere."
  100. 06[20:21] * Hunter_Arnulf 5slides another barrel over, planting his red mug on it as he rests his hands on his knees.
  101. [20:21] <Bard_Soranya> I should've just played my lute for him at this rate.
  102. [20:21] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Oh no, my leverage isn't irritation. That's just a little extra."
  103. [20:21] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"The leverage is that you're dead anyway."
  104. [20:22] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You already let it slip you're a novice. You've already fucked up twice. You'll be lucky if you're on probation, Copper. Then you won't get to earn *anything*. And heavens forbid you meet us again for your petty revenge."
  105. [20:22] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Then you're actually dead."
  106. [20:22] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"No coming back."
  107. [20:23] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"And with the kind of magic *you* play around with? What you'll see after death will make you *beg* to come back just for a chat with someone like me, who really wants to get to know you."
  108. [20:23] <Hunter_Arnulf> 1d20+15 Intimidation
  109. [20:23] <Botchy> Hunter_Arnulf, Intimidation: 23:8+15
  110. [20:24] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5Oops, that should be 28.
  111. 01[20:24] <DMM> You have +20 Intimidate?
  112. [20:24] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5+4 from Shackles, and on my sheet it says I have +16.
  113. [20:24] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5Intimidating Prowess, man.
  114. 01[20:24] <DMM> Got it.
  115. 01[20:25] <DMM> Let me check a thing.
  116. 01[20:26] <DMM> "I believe that you believe that, Grunewald. I believe that there are things that would frighten me."
  117. 01[20:26] <DMM> "But I don't believe that I'll meet them today."
  118. [20:26] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Oh no, not *today*."
  119. [20:26] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"This cult is probably very busy, yes?"
  120. [20:27] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"They likely operate on their own schedule. 'Play Scaled Drum here,' 'recruit members next week,' the like. And you probably don't know the full agenda."
  121. [20:27] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Otherwise they wouldn't be very organized, now would they?"
  122. [20:27] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Oh no. They'll kill you when they feel you're a liability, which could be whenever they please. And you won't know, until you're by yourself."
  123. [20:28] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"And as we can see, you *are* a man of revengeance, aren't you? Those who scorn you face your wrath and all that, yes?"
  124. 06[20:28] * Hunter_Arnulf 5pauses to allow for a response.
  125. 01[20:29] <DMM> "You're fishing, Grunewald."
  126. 01[20:29] <DMM> "And coming up empty."
  127. [20:29] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"No, Copper, I'm genuinely curious if you're more than just a cliche."
  128. [20:30] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Because if you are, you're probably smart enough to understand that payback isn't always with a sword on a battlefield."
  129. [20:30] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Especially against a cult where *you* are the expendable."
  130. 01[20:30] <DMM> He stays quiet.
  131. [20:30] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"And yes, you are expendable. Even before. That's why they gave you that staving off death trick."
  132. [20:31] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"So that way they could kill you over and over without losing a man. But if you keep dying without any results..."
  133. [20:31] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Why not just get rid of you, and get someone who might get the job done? Basic logic, yes?"
  134. 01[20:31] <DMM> "If things were that ludicrously simple, yes."
  135. [20:32] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"And why can't they just do that with you, Copper?"
  136. [20:32] <Bard_Soranya> (I cast Blink and moonwalk through the closed door.)
  137. [20:32] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"What makes you any more special than those lackies we also took care of?"
  138. 01[20:32] <DMM> "Nothing."
  139. [20:33] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Then why on earth would they not just replace you?"
  140. [20:33] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Do you even know *what* the value is of Copper metal? I have a history in blacksmithing, I could explain it to you."
  141. 01[20:34] <DMM> "Go ahead."
  142. [20:34] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Two things: Availability and recyclability."
  143. [20:34] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Copper's not a very powerful metal for battle. Dents easy, chips easy. You've probably gone through enough fights to know that."
  144. [20:35] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"But, you can get it just about anywhere compared to most other metals, and you can recycle it without any loss of quality."
  145. [20:35] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Meaning if you've got a batch of broken, busted swords that are useless?"
  146. [20:35] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You can melt them down and remake them into a few new swords instead. Ones that won't *fuck up*."
  147. [20:35] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Or if there's jut not enough to melt down? Go mine some more. There's plenty."
  148. [20:36] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5just*
  149. [20:36] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You're a sword with a few chips in it already, Copper."
  150. [20:36] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"They're gonna just melt you down anyway. Might as well spend your last use stabbing 'em in the back."
  151. 01[20:37] <DMM> "I will bear that in mind."
  152. [20:37] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"And since we already know your place in the scale of this cult, I'm certani you don't know everything. Hence why I'm not asking for everything. I just want to know what makes the two kids you've failed to collect the souls of so important."
  153. [20:38] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You have to know that much, right? You're not just some automaton for their use, yes?"
  154. 01[20:39] <DMM> "And what is my place in the cult, Grunewald?"
  155. [20:40] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"A slightly valuable, but easily replaced warrior for your cult. You lead the fodder, but if anyone else with a special mask is there, you defer to them."
  156. [20:40] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"
  157. [20:40] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You're the one they leave behind."
  158. 01[20:40] <DMM> "Not being killed is not the same as being left behind."
  159. [20:40] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Oh, but it is."
  160. [20:41] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Want to know why they don't stick around to help you? It's not because they're busy. It's because they don't value enough to make sure you aren't captured."
  161. 01[20:41] <DMM> "I'm afraid you're quite wrong about that, Grunewald."
  162. [20:41] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You're free to correct me."
  163. 01[20:42] <DMM> "It's not my place, I'm afraid."
  164. [20:42] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Because you don't know anything."
  165. [20:43] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"You think higher of your own band of zealots than they of you."
  166. [20:43] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Or at least, you want to think higher of them."
  167. 01[20:44] <DMM> "I think, Grunewald. That you would be better-served checking on your friends than continuing your interrogation."
  168. [20:46] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"I'd suggest you actually clarify your cryptic implications."
  169. 01[20:46] <DMM> He laughs again.
  170. 01[20:47] <DMM> "No."
  171. 06[20:47] * Hunter_Arnulf 5seems straight-faced now. "I said "I'd," not "I." Because it's not a suggestion."
  172. [20:47] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"It's a command."
  173. 01[20:47] <DMM> "Irrelevant."
  174. [20:48] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"It's relevant when I can still do things like this. FALL."
  175. 01[20:49] <DMM> He remains in his chair.
  176. [20:49] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Right. Chair."
  177. 06[20:50] * Hunter_Arnulf 5gets up from his crate, simply moving over and yanking the chair out from under the cultist.
  178. 01[20:51] <DMM> Then he falls.
  179. [20:51] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"There we go."
  180. 06[20:51] * Hunter_Arnulf 5squats down, simply grabbing the back of Copper's helmet and slamming into the floor to manually spike him in. "Hope the floor is pretty."
  181. 01[20:53] <DMM> His head collides with the floor, and the helmet sticks there.
  182. [20:53] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5"Because that's what you get to stare at until I'm back."
  183. 06[20:53] * Hunter_Arnulf 5replaces his shackles with two of his masterwork manacles - one pair near the elbows, and one pair at the wrists.
  184. 01[20:54] <DMM> You restrain him as described.
  185. [20:54] <Bard_Soranya> Now cuff his neck to his dick.
  186. [20:54] <Hunter_Arnulf> 5That would likely set off the helmet trap, unfortunately.
  187. [20:54] <Bard_Soranya> Dang.
  188. 06[20:54] * Hunter_Arnulf 5stands back up, retrieving his red mug and taking a sip of it. "Damn. Now it's just warm. I was gonna offer this to you, too," he grumbles, taking another sip as he goes to check on the party.
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement
Public Pastes
Advertisement
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!