Spoopy Scary

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

@Spoopy Scary I had kinda just assumed, since he is a cold, manipulating, door-to-door salesman who would sell my enemies a knife to stab me with.

@The Wanderer

But he'd also sell you medical service after you were stabbed. There's profit in everything.

(and asexuality isn't synonymous with unscrupulousness or goes hand-in-hand with it, for the record; in this case, it is coincidental)

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

T-this merchant! He is utterly immune to the woman 0.0!
*plots to bring Arast's sexuality over*

@Kimiyosis

I forget to mention his asexuality in the sheet!

I mean, it's just as good to drop the bomb here, but I wanted to clarify so it doesn't look like I am power playing.

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

Arastoph lended the women a courtesy glance and nod, but remained uninterested in the woman's advance. Indeed, his sexuality was that of an odd one, even in his youth, lacking most if not all sexual attraction to the people around him. Howe'er, with his view on mankind as a whole, finding an attraction in others outside of sexual appeal was a futile effort - and neither was he keen on advances upon the beast races. Still, shooing away the woman was hardly worth the effort, and for what gain? He'll let her advance as she pleased, assuming it fell within the realm of his own consent. Contact? Not even close.

"I've obtained a formal education," he answered Suki, "the subject is hardly complex."

The paladin, while not relinquishing his evangelical death grip upon the gnome, was at least willing to let others express their opinions freely. In that, there was some respect to be held, albeit expected from the better of paladins. He still felt the majority of the order was remarkably unintelligent, taking all things into consideration - or unwise, at least.

When Carver broke the news of his visitor that night, Arastoph barely held back a laugh as a snide comment or two came to mind.

"Oh, Carver!" Arastoph bemoaned. "I did not think you to be the type to sleep with children. I suddenly feel less guilty about requesting monetary compensation."

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

"A celestial body." Arastoph piped up, intervening on the conversation; and hopefully end the religious conversion before it began. Worshiping the light was cute and all, but what kind of man would he be if he let the knight take advantage of a little boy like that? Er-- gnome. How old was the wee guy anyway? Regardless, Arastoph had one thing that the others didn't: a formal education befitting of a noble (perhaps, with time and money, Arastoph could make himself a noble in due time - imagine that!).

"Telescopes, the creation of which prompting due thanks to the world's scientists, can allow you to look at the stars and see they are like that of the sun. Granted, we do not know what they are made of yet, but I doubt their making is magical or divine."

The trader tipped up the wide-brimmed hat he had scavenged last night, revealing his face from the shade it offered. Light bags formed under his eyes. Nothing severe, but he had spent the whole night doing little more than closing his eyes. A man like him can not sleep among strangers, especially as suspicious of him as they were. Granted, he fared it better than most would, but it didn't make the experience any more pleasurable. He found that there were a couple of people that had joined their crew amidst the night. A young boy, and a girl. Assuming that the watchman had not grown lazy and fallen asleep, he had let them in, indicating he recognized them. Their party was larger than Arastoph had first anticipated. With larger groups come greater solidarity and variety of perspectives. A larger group was much more difficult to manipulate, but assuming he can get just a few to trust him, he should be well off. Even if the monkey and pious knight didn't.

"I believe we are better off accepting that there are beneficial consequences of its product, like of the trees, than to humanize it... but that's just my take on it. Decide what you will, wee one."

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

<Snipped quote by Dragonbud>

Just because he has the appearance of a child, doesn't necessarily mean he is a child

@Kronshi

Generally speaking, that's exactly what it means.

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

Only human, of course, that was likely where their value fell short. Only human. Though, he had to wonder - did the brawler come back out only to argue with him, then go back to bed once more? Was arguing with a supposed refugee so important to him? A supposed refugee who had supposedly lost so much? It was adorable, to say the least. Now, back to business... with Carver. He felt that his delivery was smooth and tactful, yet the paladin seemed to have interpreted his words in such a different way. Taken at face value instead of being contemplated upon. Indeed, these holy knights were valued for their initiative, though Arastoph felt they were too quick to act. As the paladin stood at his full height, raining his anger down upon the merchant, Arastoph held his composure but at least kept his eyes wide with intrigue and leaned back - if not to avoid the spittle from the knight's rage as he flung his coins at his lap.

He watched the paladin retreat into his tent, annoyed at how poorly negotiations went this time around. Arastoph sighed aloud, then spoke up in a calm and easy voice, in his attempt to temper the paladin's ire.

"Perhaps I should have clarified, Carver... but clarifications or no, I wouldn't have expected you to be so naive as to jump to conclusions so quickly without asking me to explain myself. Money is required if I am to rebuild my life. Money is the only thing that our society cares about. Without it, I'm as dead as I would have been back in Ravenwood."

Arastoph paused as the reality of his previous situation sunk in. He really could have died.

"I just ask that I receive the resources that would allow me to rebuild. As much as I would love to spend the rest of my days grieving over my parted kin... I will make it a mission to carry on; if just for her."

He ended his explanation there, not expecting an answer back from the paladin. He hoped, at least, that the knight would hear what he said and consider it. Sleep on it. Arastoph looked around the camp that had suddenly grown quiet. He never was much of a sleeper. Less so outdoors, and less so among strangers. Especially if one or two of those strangers distrusted him. The most he will be able to do this night is to rest his eyes, and listen to the excited activity of the forest.

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

Just as soon as Arastoph fucks Carver out of all his money.

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

Carver's answer satisfied Arastoph. This was good. This meant that he could more easily get what he needs out of this by milking the "sole survivor" trope. However, there came issue with the brawler, who seems to have taken upon himself to present himself as the ass. Ah; setbacks, setbacks. So, how would be the best way to take care of this monkey while still playing the trope? Perhaps, maybe, undermine the brawler's efforts to absolve themselves of blame and pinning it instead on the "sole survivor", and putting the monkey up on spotlight. He'd have to really milk this, but it was doable. As Separ walked away, Arastoph began, not even bothering to look behind him at he spoke.

"So, tell me - Separ, was it? Have you ever seen what it was like to watch closely people being burned alive?" Arastoph asked. He paused for a moment for his words to sink in. "I imagine not, so let me explicitly descriptive: a small child, hunched over a bed of charcoals. Her screams of agony, oh so woeful that they were, have long since evanesced. Her blood is instead boiling, oozing through the pores of her skin. With the sight, the smell of burning skin mingled with burning hair. Her eyes pop like grapes when the water in and behind them boil."

He looked at the little girl that the lisping rogue had made her companion. "That could have just as easily been her."

He took a deep breathe, as though it were meant to regain his bearings. Now it was time to really milk it.

"Now what if I told you, that girl was my daughter?" He stated, clenching his teeth and emboldening his voice. "Would you then be so bold to suggest that I did not do everything in my power to stop that? Whereas the lot of you - all with combat experience, weapon training, and practice - had far more tools to their disposal than I ever had? As a trader, I picked a different path, which just so happened meant I couldn't support a family by ways of fighting."

His head turned back to face Carver, his face a little pink with forced, feigned anger. "If you do take responsibility," he said, "I do expect reparations. Safe passage to other towns. The lives of people are not insurable, but I expect at least the compensation for everything I've lost. I'm a merchant who had a pretty penny to his name. I've lost a lot. This would mean paying off a large monetary debt, however long it takes."

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

Hey, man, you're picking fights with the group's charisma guy. He can turn the rest of the group against Separ if he ain't careful.

Who Wants To Go On An Adventure!!! (FULL)

They had been hasty in their retreat, lead by Arastoph toward the proper direction, but was expectedly thwarted of his lead by the others who had sought to seek out their companions. Surely, it was an irritable day, between raids and his stubborn protectors (as the term “rescuers” would be lending them too much credence). They did in fact find them, and promptly set up camp in the safest area that they could. From what he has learned from listening in on their conversations, the paladin was Carver, the brawler was Separ, and among the people the two were looking for was an engineer named Kelvin. The little one's name, the gnome, had not been mentioned, and the name of the woman had been mentioned so few times that it had left his mind. The tall half-elf, however; his speech impediment was so pronounced, so strong, that it annoyed the living hell out of the merchant to the point that he didn't even care to learn it.

He completely disregarded the child, almost as though he wasn't aware she existed.

Arastoph only hoped that they knew how to make a proper fire, even though he himself thought that starting a fire in this proximity to the ruined village invested with bandits was a terrible idea. He was bidding misère on his bet that trouble would arrive before anyone got a full night of sleep. Staying in one place was too dangerous. His input would undoubtedly be disregarded by this band; an infuriating concept that was beyond the merchant, to be degraded to such a degree, that his authority could be so easily undermined. It is under this cognition that Arastoph devises his plans to make the most of the current situation by taking advantage of the paladin's code, and perhaps the moral compass of the others – though he did not know how far the latter would take him.

Not once has he said a word during the process of setting up camp. Shared his opinion, his name – nay, not a word. During one brief moment of quiet amongst the camp, however, Arastoph broke his silence.

“Carver,” Arastoph started simply, “do you – or do you not – feel responsible for the failure in preventing the destruction of Ravenwood and of all its citizens?”

His voice ran smooth, like that of a practiced orator, nary a tremble in its consistency. His eyes bore into the paladin's own, expecting an honest answer.