Up the Tree (8/8/2006)

RHJunior · Post by **RHJunior** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:22 pm

Submitted that gruesome executions AREN'T exactly fanciful, especially in a medieval society....
And he can quite clearly hear the villagers talking too....

Rokas · Post by **Rokas** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:10 pm

It's also quite possible that the crime he's guilty of isn't theivery, but something far worse... As far as I can discern, Quentyn's only heard the humans discussing the punishment, not the crime, and the guy in the cage is probably copping a less violent crime that'll explain why he's in the cage without sounding dangerous to his potential rescuer.

And even if it is theivery... This is a medieval society, with medieval rules of justice. Quentyn might find out that he'll have to grow a hard skin if he wants to finish his quest without constantly trying to free/save every single person from their fate.

Just my opinion.

Squeaky Bunny · Post by **Squeaky Bunny** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:12 pm

If not thievery, maybe it's puns?

Rokas · Post by **Rokas** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:32 pm

Or maybe it's something like killing cattle, drinking their blood, etc.

Given he's not human, he could probably have some serious issues. I mean, humans have some serious issues already (Jeffry Dahmer, anyone?). I'd imagine some other species could and would be just as messed up in the head.

Namrepus221 · Post by **Namrepus221** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 4:39 pm

I dunno about anyone else....but the thief looks vaguely anthro to me... Almost like a cat.

Persephone_Kore · Post by **Persephone_Kore** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 8:59 pm

Well, it's probably not something that can climb up a tree-trunk with its claws....

Kerry Skydancer · Post by **Kerry Skydancer** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:37 pm

And it's not looking very battish, either. We'll just have to wait and see.

HEY! Ralph! When's the next update?

Dapple · Post by **Dapple** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:35 pm

Kinda reminds me of Baughb the elf from Elf Life. With that apparent big nose.

Zobeid · Post by **Zobeid** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 4:59 am

At first glance, Quentin's decision to help this, um, person. . . seems rather puzzling and maybe naive. However, let's remember for a moment that he doesn't view this scene exactly the way you or I might.

Quentin has never seen humans for most of his life, but he's heard plenty about them. They're the ugly and brutish giants who drove his people into exile. His first view of them in the village isn't exactly flattering either. "great big half-bald looking angry monkey things"

So he's viewing this the same way you or I might view things if we wandered into a village full of angry orcs and found them arguing over whether they want to boil, fry or barbecue a captive.

Tom Mazanec · Post by **Tom Mazanec** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:37 am

Good point, Zobeid. Should have seen that myself!

TMLutas · Post by **TMLutas** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:06 pm

Wanderwolf wrote:
TMLutas wrote:
SolidusRaccoon wrote:Bad move, Q, me thinks the criminal is lying to you.
He didn't say that he *wasn't* a thief, merely that he doesn't want to suffer the horrible punishment of a thief.

This is party recruitment, I think. A thief would be a good addition when you're trying to return magical artifacts, wouldn't you think?
Um, two problems with that:

1. Quentyn, as Merchant Max pointed out, is too nice a guy to steal things.

2. The biggest problem with thieves is that you can't trust them.

Trust me on this. Even in D&D, the biggest problem can be keeping an eye on the thief. They have a disconcerting ability to snitch things from the wrong pocket at the wrong time.

Yours truly,

The wolfish,

Wanderer

Yes, Quentyn is too nice a guy to steal things. That's why somebody else is going to steal for him if there's thieving to be done (or lock picking, or trap disarming...). I predict much comedy gold as the thief is educated as to why it's a bad idea to steal from Quentyn.

TMLutas · Post by **TMLutas** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:08 pm

Madmoonie wrote:I am not sure that this is the best course of action, as others have mentioned. The accused never actually claimed that he was innocent. I think Quentyn should have listened more before getting involved. Those humans are gonna catch him.

Those journey boots will take him clear of human vengeance and he's got enough other tricks up his sleeve that I'm not worried much.

Earl McClaw · Post by **Earl McClaw** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:54 pm

The one thing that makes me wonder is that - after a century of the Rac Conan isolated behind the Mistwall - Quentyn is immediately able to understand both the first humans and non-human he encounters.

Kerry Skydancer · Post by **Kerry Skydancer** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 7:02 pm

It's been mentioned that the Rac Cona still study human languages. And a couple centuries isn't that much in a medieval society for linguistic drift. That's quite plausible.

MikeVanPelt · Post by **MikeVanPelt** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 8:41 pm

TMLutas wrote: Those journey boots will take him clear of human vengeance and he's got enough other tricks up his sleeve that I'm not worried much.

But not, perhaps, the guy he's trying to rescue.

On the other hand, he does know how to do that "dust devil" trick to lead pursuit off in the wrong direction.

There is another factor, though -- the thief's reaction to Quentyn climbing that tree would seem to indicate that they have little experience with lux-type stuff here. All the fallout from the Fakir Movement is just waiting to fall on Quentyn's head. Unlike Louis, Nessus, Teela, and Speaker on Ringworld, Quentyn is not moving fast enough to leave all his mistakes behind him. Once it gets around that "there's one of those demonic raccoon-things using its Dark Powers against human beings"... it's not going to make his job easier.

Madmoonie · Post by **Madmoonie** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:00 am

I just thought of something (shocking, I know!) and that is that Quentyn just used some of the lux in his boots. How is he going to keep them and other things powered, did we figure that out?

Wanderwolf · Post by **Wanderwolf** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 1:18 pm

Madmoonie wrote:I just thought of something (shocking, I know!) and that is that Quentyn just used some of the lux in his boots. How is he going to keep them and other things powered, did we figure that out?

As Ralph has pointed out, Lux is everywhere. The flow is less outside the Mistwall than inside (where Lux generators in Sanctuary keep it high), but it's still there. He'll have to wait a little longer for a recharge once he totally exhausts an item, is all. (Good think Kestrel's friend modified the elfshot pistol.)

Yours truly,

The wolfish,

Wanderer

TMLutas · Post by **TMLutas** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 1:18 pm

Madmoonie wrote:I just thought of something (shocking, I know!) and that is that Quentyn just used some of the lux in his boots. How is he going to keep them and other things powered, did we figure that out?

Well lux still exists on the outside, just in lesser form. He'll be really impressive at the start but he's just going to have to lay low longer to wait for recharge or he'll have some sort of portable lux generator, maybe with wind or water wheel attachment to speed things up.

LoneWolf23k · Post by **LoneWolf23k** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 2:21 pm

Ok, so Quentyn's just saved an elven maiden from being sommarily executed by the angry mob of racists..

...Or at least he will as soon as they run away from the mob.

Squeaky Bunny · Post by **Squeaky Bunny** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 2:39 pm

LoneWolf23k wrote:Ok, so Quentyn's just saved an elven maiden from being sommarily executed by the angry mob of racists..

...Or at least he will as soon as they run away from the mob.

How strange would it be that preventing a virgin sacrifice might apply to him as much as it might to her.

Then again, If he doesn't believe in her species would that be a case of elf denial?

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Up the Tree (8/8/2006)

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