as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Starday, 25 Desnus

Today was one of the worst battles we’ve had in some time. It wasn’t the physical damage, although there was, of course, some of that.

It was the emotional damage, and how close we came as a group to fighting among ourselves.

But let me back up.

As I wrote earlier, in order to demonstrate both our intentions and our skills, we had agreed to liberate an outpost that had been taken over by bandits. The local daimyo seems indifferent to their presence. That is troubling enough, but Jiro revealed that he is familiar with that particular location, and there is is a vault there, which will yield only to one with royal heritage, that contains an ancestral weapon.

Ameiko said she intended to stay behind and learn more about these people and this area. I think, with Jiro also staying behind, I can trust that she’ll be in good hands. I remember hoping I don’t regret that decision; Suishen would be extremely vocal about it, I’m sure, should it backfire.

Defeating the bandits did not trouble us terribly. After our victories in the sleeping area, we continued slowly and carefully through the rest of the outpost. At one point we discovered a number of women that appeared to be enslaved or at the very least treated as servants; we cautiously introduced ourselves, reassured them and asked what might be ahead. We then tailored our actions to keep them safe behind us.

As we set out, Qatana again went in a different direction than myself and we again found the group split. She encountered both the magic user Kamuy-Paro, and the chief Gangasum, along with several more bandits. Meanwhile I and Zos had discovered the captive female were-tiger (TosKatun), and since she seemed a captive and non-threatening, we released her. It was Dasi who finally brought it to our attention that a major battle was developing around Qatana. Toskatun intercepted a bandit coming from her north and crushed him with her bite. Meanwhile, alerted by Dasi, I started heading to the other battle. By the time I got there, Qatana, Ivan and Radella had been whittling away at the bandits, and Kali had summoned a dire tiger. She also dropped a wall of force to keep the magic user isolated while we finished off the bandits and the chieftain. One of the bandits surrendered and saved his life by doing so, but everybody else paid the ultimate price. When the wall of force dropped, Kamuy-Paro immediately hit us with a dispel magic, which affected some of us worse than others. But he too fell, ultimately to one of Ivan’s many arrows.

Qatana questioned the disheartened bandit. He revealed there was only a small number of bandits remaining, and that the daimyo not only knew of them, not only permitted them to operate, but charged them a fee to do so. He was making money from it!

So we knew we had the guard in the remaining outlook, plus two on the wall, but otherwise we were done. The captured bandt, named Hashashi, amiably agreed to go along. Qatana, Radella, and I prepared to bring in the last few.

Before leaving we examined the corpses and retrieved

[646] MW scimitar
[647] MW dagger
[648] wand CMW [36]
[649] wand speak w/animals [30]
[650] armor [+2]
[651] wooden shield [+1]
[652] wooden holy symbol
[653] spell components
[654] ironwood key
[655] diamond dust (500gp)
[656] amulet of natural armor [+2]
[657] studded leather MW
[658] scimitar [+2]
[659] comp short bow [+2]
[660] potion, CSW
[661] leather armor [+3]
[662] white wooden shield [+2]
[663] MW dagger
[664] +2 belt of dexterity
[665] ironwood keys
[666] +2 lance

However, we were not very far into our tour when Qatana stopped suddenly with a briefly distant look, and then informed us that Ivan was injured – there must be a battle going on. I stayed to watch the bandits we’d collected so far and Qatana and Radella hastened back.

When they returned, they told me that the were-tiger had decided NOT to cooperate anymore and had attacked the group. Even with the fighters mostly gone, our group’s magic was more than the weretiger could handle. The weretiger, Qatana informed us, was now dead.

We returned with three more bandits for a total of four prisoners, although they were still laboring under the impression that this was a change of command, not a defeat.

Ivan, Radella, and Qatana wanted to give the rescued women a tour to not only show them it was now safe, but ask them more questions about the area. This was a good idea in general, but unfortunately the tale of their experiences there awakened old memories in Qatana, I fear. When one of the bandits hesitated at voluntarily entering a cage, Qatana exploded – and the man died, gibbering slightly.

He just died. Qatana had cast a spell at him and that killed him, with a horrified look on his face.

I turned to look at Qatana but it was as if nothing had happened to her. She again demanded the bandits get into the cages, and they did.

An alcove off to one side seemed like it might be the “vault” we’d been told about – it was a desecrated shrine to Shizuru, and one of the statues there had an inscription “touch me with your grace”. I touched it – nothing. Qatana touched it – nothing. Perhaps this actually will require Ameiko, as the current heir. The plan is to request (and retrieve) Jiro and Ameiko: Jiro to dispense with the bandits, and Ameiko to test this statue. If successful, that will reveal her to be a legitimate heir to Jiro … but perhaps this is exactly the way it should happen, to prove to Hiro what we’ve told him.

However …

At the moment that Qatana killed the bandit with a few words and a gesture, I was shocked. Kali looked like she felt strongly about it too, although she said nothing and did nothing. I couldn’t tell from her face if she was aghast or if she had the same thought but Qatana beat her to it. i did not expect that from either. We are a collection with different backgrounds and different motivations, joined by a few commonalities like Shalelu and Ameiko, but never have our differences been more lethal. I don’t know what the rest of the group felt about that, but I felt very uncomfortable executing a helpless prisoner. I’m surprised nobody else did or said anything, but perhaps they were shocked just as I was. Or perhaps I just learned something important about my companions. If Qatana had started casting another spell at another prisoner, I would have interrupted her to prevent the same.

Would I have drawn blood? I am troubled by a question for which I have no answer.

I sought out Qatana later, hoping to impress upon her the magnitude of what she had done. It had to be a gentle conversation, because I already know that Qatana would not accept lecturing. I’d hoped to get her to admit that her emotions had gotten the better of her, and that she felt some delayed remorse for her action. But sadly, she continued to assert she was justified in her action. I don’t know if she understood the point I was trying to make; she seemed more puzzled than angry with me.

My mind went back to the carnage I’d witnessed when the drow attacked our village, so many years ago. I’d vowed then to not be defenseless again …. but I had not anticipated the day when my skills would improve to the point where I myself could devastate an opponent in one or two swings. In the heat of battle it all seems perfectly justified, but when does the battle haze fade from your eyes? When is the correct action to ease up and be satisfied with victory rather than exacting vengeance? When does strategy dictate that all must die? Why has this not occurred to me before?

I will not sleep easy tonight.