Enceladus

Na'im smirks at Elnath's predicament "Most ironic wouldn't you say master Van Cleef? The blind blinding the one who blinded them, eh?" Na'im heals Elnath from the back row

Na'im heals Miderun from the back row

Na'im attacks mistress Kyoka from the back row OOC: Feel free to override this CMP, but I feel we will get swamped by free hits this round unless we do something

OOC: Good ot see you back PJB. I also equipped the F.I.B malleable helm a while back BTW, as being level 10, I can equip two artefacts "And you would let this happen general?" demands Naim "Under your very nose? Is that doing your job now-At least before you would be able to tell who your enemies were by mere inspection." Na'im shakes his head "You are just as responsible for this as El-Aquist and the creed." Na’im opens his mouth eagerly to respond but then closes it. He still was largely unsure how he felt about the Fenarians. On one hand, they had driven him into exile, and he had been prepared ot hate them when he returned, but so far they had proven to be by and large, reasonable and helpful "A master of words indeed Treelord. Truly, I can see why they made you a gaurdian of the krimwood...stubbon and unmoving as the bark of a great oak tree." Na'im says, narrowing his eyes, as he grows steadily more frustrated at the Treelord’s avoidance of his questions Na’im simply stares at the wereraccon with loathing, unable to comprehend the simple looking ranger had the cunning to outfox not only Elnath, but the entire party as well. He took it as a personal insult that he had been unable to unmask the creature before, having usually prided himself on his intelligence Na’im does not respond to, or thank the guardians for rescuing him, and angrily dusts himself down Na'im nods in agreement and clutches the broomstick with both hands "Master Mihnak is right master Van Cleef. This is not the Toren you once knew-that Toren is long dead if he ever really exsisted at all." Na'im smirks "You sound like you could be the lead hero in some form of play master Mihnak-you know all heroics and saving the princess. But I will certinaly consent to heal you." He then shoots an angry look at oswain "Thanks for nothing general. I sincerly hope sending all those arrows at us was worth it" Na'im says tartly Na'im heals Mihnak from the back row

Probaly a bit late, but I will repeat what everyone else said and say congrats StickFig!

"I thought you and master Germ's ah...friends were supposed to represent the black market in these parts? Well, we saw how that turned out-that 'band of brothers' jumped ship and joined the accursed weresnakes at the first opportunity they got. And besides, where would we get imports from? The house of Fenari has no friends outside of Fenario. It is our doom to march on and fight our uneneding war in this twilight land, alone and devoid of outside assistance. What nation would see an opportunity in supplying a nation of exiles, trapped deep underground anyway?" "If Oswain is not part of the creed's plan then he has nothing to fear from us." glowers Na'im "However, he cannot expect the Fenarians to turn on their heels and march back uderground just like that. They are starving, master Mihnak, and if they return back where they came from empty handed, they will be dooming themsleves to an agonisingly slow death from starvation

"That isn’t an answer Treelord." Says Na’im cooly Na’im throws a nervous glance at Bobby, slightly afraid he might turn and decide to attack everyone around him-the rouge had not been the same since the encounter In the lost path "So those are the weresnakes we have been searching for..." murmurs Na’im curiously "Fascinating. They do not remind me of any weresnakes I have observed across Olegia." Na’im folds his arms waits to see how the weresnakes react to the gaurdians "It is you who are a fool here master Mihnak! Lord Angmar is the best thing that ever came out of the house of Fenari." says Na'im fiercly "It was he who single-handedly moulded Fenario from a group of improvished refugee’s and soldiers, following the schism, and moulded them into a working nation and a haven or the oppressed and the minorities across Olegia. Fenario could have degenerated into a nation of savages and exiles, like the kobolds, but it did not and that can only be credit to his leadership-and while Lord Angmar may be a genius, he is no god, and even he cannot make food out of nothing to feed his thousands of subjects, especially given star elf incursions and Kobold raids." concludes Na'im, sounding very protective of his old ruler The red angel's voice reverberates in Na’ims head again Kill him. The war monger has insulted Fenario and my honour once too many times now. Now is the time to strike. But Na’im considers the general as the others talk, and at last he thinks he understands "You know what I think? I think you have been played for a fool Oswain-In fact, you have been doing exactly what you have been told for far too long. Your supposed friends and allies at court...they have been turning your generals against you, and using your slavish devotion to Legovia to further their own plans. If not how do you explain this, Eh?" Na’im shows El-Aquists memoirs to both Angmar and Oswain "This certainly explains a lot wouldn't you say? Oh and if you think myself, and every other Fenarian here will meekly consent to having our identities robbed by the creed then you are very much mistaken. We aren’t going down without a fight Oswain."

OOC: No problem PJB-glad to see you're still around!

"But my race are not your race master Mihnak. There is a reason the elves were never supposed to go to war with one another. We ourselves are too powerful and our lifespans too long, that any war that broke out between us would be nigh impossible to quell before it devastated our homelands. Your war may have lasted centuries, but our's has lasted millennia, and many of those who instigated the conflict are still around today. You would think if there was the slightest chance peace could be initiated it would have been done years ago. Now, contrary to popular belief, hero or not, your arrival is not suddenly going to make star elves and Fenarians sue for peace-you have no right to tell them to lay down their weapons and cooperate, and they in return have no reason to listen to you." "I am only being realistic here, Master Mihnak" Na’im says mildly

Despite his agoraphobia from years spent underground, Na’im, suddenly yearns for the open spaces of the plains as the trees start to encircle them "The krimwood is just one wood in the grand scheme of things-the guardians can take the stone all they like if that is what they so desire-there are bigger things at stake here." Na’im says, not taking his eyes off Oswain’s army. "But it is not as if we pocess the actual stone-the weresnakes do, and if the guardians want it, they shall have to go fetch it themselves, unless they have a reward in mind." "What do you think the star elves actually think of you?" asks Na’im, his eyes still trained on Oswain and his army "You failed them once, by letting the weresnakes escape with your precious Nerkastone right under your noses, and then you failed them yet again by having lady Bain Ga escape despite a force of woodland creatures guarding her. Methinks the star elves are coming to see you for what you really are without the Nerkastone to help you-for now they have finally realised don’t need your help to defeat the Fenarians. And once the Fenarians are wiped off the face of Olegia? Why they will turn to your precious krimwood next, and your all your pretences of independence and neutrality will be lost under the star elve’s new empire. Without the brown Nerkastone, you have lost your only means of leverage over the star elves-don't you see? They don't need your help any more. Why do you still support them?" "The war never really ended General and at times I wonder if it ever will. If there one thing I will say about Fenarians it is that they are tenacity is only matched by that of dwarfs and they never give up-it must come from spending centuries hidden underground I suppose." Fenario sinned yes but never quite enough to lose me, their patron, the red angel. I chose you Na’im Thamir hero of Heroica as my vessel of justice, to save my people. They may have lost sight of their true deity on many an occasion, but I have never abandoned them rumbles the voice of the red angel in Na'ims head, in response to Oswain's words "You and I both know this war can never truly end until one side eradicates the other. Fenari and Alpeith-we are both too proud and driven to accept anything less than a complete victory. Besides." adds Na'im, in a voice little more than a whisper "You are not the only one with a deity at their side general." and for just a moment his face seems lit up with a red glow "There can be no peace lady Miderun." Na’im says heavily "I know you may mean well, but you would be doing Spelesia a disservice if you did. War twists many a good man beyond recognition, that much is commonly known…but what happens when these men return home? I am not talking about your improvised and desperate foot soldiers, I am talking about the Generals and politicians, those who believe long into times of peace, that they are still at war, and will apply the tactics of war with just a much ruthlessness as they would on the battlefield. You will get so much infighting between them-and it was infighting might I add that caused this war in the first place, political infighting between the Alpeith and the Fenari-that it will tear Spelesia apart. The wars of men may last a century at most, but here we are talking about those who have not seen peace for millennia, so much so that war has become a fact of life. Can you imagine war on this scale, where there are not two convenient armed camps like we have here, but four, six, twenty score? It would make the bloodshed we have now, look like a trickle of water compared to a tidal wave." "And that is not even thinking about the social effects of calling for peace. Like it or not both our cultures are built around war-I would go as far as saying it shapes our identity: Fenario, traditionally the underdogs, champions of the marginalised and oppressed across Olegia and the Star elves; proud and upstanding and disciplined warriors. Without war we have nothing. Our economies will falter without demand for weapons and supplies, and those minority groups Fenario originally sheltered will desert it when they see what it will become. War is the only way my friends-name one person here, not in our company who will support your half-hearted notions of peace."

"Flee if you will master Van Cleef with your family-I will not blame you, for I would do the same in your position, but the Fenari...I may not wholly like them and we have oft wronged each other in the past, but still they are the closest thing I have left to a family, and I cannot abandon them to the grip of the General ,and I will stand by them even if the rest of you flee. Part of me feels mad for standing agaisnt the general like this, but the other half feels as if this is completly right ...if this is what having a family is like Master Van Cleef-a true family that loves and cares for you, then...then, it is is everything you said and more still!" Na'im laughs somewhat madly "If you truly think we are foolish enough to be swayed with honeyed tounges and sugared words, then why would you not have applied the same tactic yourselves, instead of attacking our party with all your strength at the first hint of suspicion? Look where it has got you-hundreds of your kin, and two of your fellow lieutenants are dead, all thanks to opening hostilities on your part-do you see any Fenarains slain by our hand?" Na'im deamands, steadfastdly refusing to look at Polly "Perhaps you could have had us as your allies, for many of us came to Spelesia with an open mind, but that chance was lost the moment we stepped ashore." Naim turns to his old friend "Well, here we are again master Mihnak-another choice, another dilemma. Now is the time to redeem yourself in our eyes-do not abandon us once more!" "Your god did not come for your lieutenant El-Aquiest, and Legovia will not come to save you this time either. You are no blessed paragon of Legovia. You are just another deluded war monger who has been let free for too long, and needs to be stopped." says Na'im, suddenly feeling very small compared to the general and his beast but nonetheless he moves to stand with Kiray and Miderun alongside Eckmar The red angels voice sounds loud and clear inside Naims head Good. The war monger is an Enemy of the house of Fenari and must die. His blood will be the first step to washing clean the sins of Fenario, and restoring the integrity of my sacred house of Fenari Na'im says nothing and concentrates on staring down the general

"Thats a naieve way if looking at things miss Polly. If the trouble we have been through to catch them is any indicator, then these weresnakes are exceptionally cunning and stealthy, and it would not surprise me if they were able to evade both the Fenari and the Star elves even if they had the blue Nerkastone in their scaly hands. Come on now, you and I both know are just making up excuses for us to save Toren now." "He's not your son" says Na'im bluntly "And you would do well to remember that before you start prioritising your own happiness over the lives of hundreds Elnath Van Cleef." nonetheless Naim walks over slowly to Toren and attempts to heal him Na'im blinks in surprise as General Oswain's men close in on them "That is General Oswain the man we fled halfway across Spelesia to escape?" Na'im sizes up the general "Look closely...He has that air about him...well fed, pampered. This man has lived his whole life within the comfort of the dome, drip fed on Star elf proporganda and now...now he cannot wait to unleash his vengance upon Fenario, given all the horror stories he has been told about the Fenari. We cannot let him intimidate us." Na'im grips Miderun's shoulder "Lady Miderun I am not one for suicidal charges and heroic last stands, but we have to help the royal army or my people will finally fall as they were about to all those years ago, when we first fled underground." Na'im turns to Polly, "A War is coming, take this, I assure you will need the protection in time." Na'im roughly hands her the cloak of the Uq

"Well really master Mihnak!" Sys Na'im indignantly "You could have just asked. Patience is a virtue as they say!"

Na'im frowns at the saucepan "Master Mihnak it is all very well for you to heal yourself when necessary, but can we please just remember who is the designated party healer around here." Na'im sighs in exasparation "What do you want us to do master Elnath? You would ask us to choose to save the life of a near stranger, over the lives of who knows how many people who will be oppressed if the weresnakes gain control of the nerkastone. It is like me saying to you, would you save the life of my good friend Boris Burehalv of Heroica, or the lives of one hundred others? Call me cynical, cold hearted or whatever, but master Toren's life is never going to be worth the lives of all the people who will suffer from the weresnakes control over the blue nerkastone." Na'im turns to Polly "Does this situation look familiar to you? That is because it is. Back down in that cavern we had a choice: to exchange a soul with...him, to save master Eckmar's life, and see where that has left us thanks to...his, treachery. Lord Girgolis lost forever, and young master Bucks horrbily disfigured, all for the life of one man-and you would let it happen again would you? Who do you think fate will see fit to take this time? You? Master Van Cleef, who has been like a father to you?" Na'im glances in the direcion of the star elves nervously "But either way we have to hurry up and leave before the star elves get another volley in on us-or worse, if their ground forces catch us out in the open. Can you see how far away they are master Mihnak?"

Na'im shuffles his feet uneasily "Now look here master Germ...no offence intended but that cloak is awfully tattered and to be frank it clashes horribly with that Star elf helm you have on. Silver and black may look good on paper but here the effect is rather distracting." "And if someone were to attempt to mug me, I think they would be quite disappointed...I am shall I say, broke-no wait a little In debt to young master Bucks that is all, whereas you look like you have a full coin pouch and so are a much more attractive target-at least, that is what I would think if I were a thief."

"It shows..." Mutters Na'im under his breath

Na'im gives Germ a filthy look "Trust me on this master germ, I have had many more years of living in high society than you have, and I have picked up a thing or two about fashion I should think-its become something of a hoby of mine actually."

Na'im looks Eckmar up and down "Oh a couple of thousand gold at least I dare say-he is a very important man back on Fenario you know." says Na'im matter of factly "But please don't kill him master Germ. It would be a horrible waste after all the trouble young master Bucks and I went through to get him back from beyond the grave." "What kind of simpleton wears snake skin?" whispers Na'im "The very thought of donning it has to be one of the greatest crimes against fashion in history...its cheap, looks tacky and is downright uncomfortable to wear." he finishes as if that settled the matter

Na'im says nothing and watches the figures of the princess and Eckmar grow steadily smaller and struggles to supress his feelings of guilt and anger over what transpired in that underground cavern, by heaping them all on the princess, with little sucess. He may have stood there thinking and talking with the others for several minutes before Eckmar returned with the others "So the Fenarians are now at war with the star elves?" says Na'im curiously "I do not know what you fellows did at the outpost, but if it irked the star elves so badly that they would declare war, you have earned my respect for your boldness if nothing else." he says to germ and Mihnak... His thoughts are interrupted by a hail of arrows landing among the party which pepper his cloak in several places. He curses in Fenarian and equips the F.I.B malleable mask for added protection against any future star elf barrages "I certinaly wouldn't count on it Lady Kiray" says Na'im in response to her query "But it is good to have you back anyway." and he tips his hat in acknowledment at the black knight Na'im shakes his head in disgust as the BOB run off to join the Weresnakes "I always knew they were a rotten sort." he mutters largely to himself Na'im smiles wryly and nods at Miderun's words "Oh I would listen to her if I were you." he says to the weresnakes "Have you ever met an angry Pongcanis before? Now imagine one with a much shorter fuse and an even more explosive temper...and there you have an angry Orc."

Na'im smiles. He had missed Germ's simple company and unique outlook on life "A demon worshipper to be precise master Germ-unless you are so vain as to worship yourself! this would not apply to you, would it not?" Na'im says raising an eyebrow humourously "So, have you heard anything from lady Miderun and the others?" asks Na'im

Na'im smiles at Mihnak and Germ "Master Mihnak, master Germ, this is a pleasent surprise! It would appear this has been a long night for all present, but do tell, how have you two fared on this long night ?" Na'im rubs his eyes and readjusts his spectacles Na'im turns to Eckmar and the princess "We shall meet again soon enough I am sure master Eckmar. 'Tis good to see you whole once more, but the price was still too high. I am deeply sorry for the loss of lord Girgolis. He was a wise dragon and a brave warrior, and I shall remember him well..." Na'im turns to the princess and bows deeply "Farewell your highness. It has been a true pleasure...with your brother still missing in that cave, you will be queen of Fenario will you not? If you are, then you would do well to heed my words. The star elves are coming your highness. I know you said that you want to avoid war at all costs, but I will say this. The truth is that you cannot walk around every fight you face-only the red angel knows how many years I have followed that stratergy for, and see where that has left me! Good judgement your highness can be the hardest thing in the Olegia to master-it is the fine line that seperate the brave and the foolish, to know when to avoid a confrontation and again see when one is unavoidable, is difficult yes, but could very well be the thing that saves Fenario. I have faith that you will make the right choice when the time comes your highness...please, do not allow lord Girgolis to have died in vain." Na'im checks no one is looking and whispers in the princess' ear "You may have forgotten what happened in that hellish chamber your highness, but I have not. I saw Girgolis fall before my eyes and was powerless to stop it, and then Bobby undergo near pocession. And I will hold you accountable for that, now and forever, for being so obsessed with mantainig peace between star elves and Fenarians, that you would have us seek aid from a demon worshipper. Now your highness, is the chance for you to redeem yourself in my eyes."

Just got round to reading the grogmas gifts list and I have to say some of those gifts... Still, I'm very glad two of my suggstions got through, and thanks to everyone who suggested gifts for Na'im!

I saw the film two days ago, and I'll just add my two cents (If you haven't already seen it-which you would be mad not to!) Pros Exellent new characters (Rey and Finn really stood out, as did BB8 in his (its?) own way) Excellent visuals and sets-not too much of that CGI nonsense from the prequals thank god! Great dialouge and acting-the film made me laugh and cry in equal measures Cons Seriously way to much needless copying from a new hope, for no good reason, that ends up seeming really odd and forced Bit of a rushed and convenient second arc IMO Suffered from serious overhype in the run up to release All in all, I really enjoyed myself watching it, even if it was a bit lazily folllowing ANH formula in places, and I would reccomend anyone go and see it, if only because it is another star was film-isn't that incentive enough? I would say it was about on par with ROTJ-certinaly way beter than any of the prequals, but then again it would have to be something else to get anywhere close to Empire or ANH in my books

According to wikipedia... Which I take ot mean Nephilim are 'sons of angels' with no good or evil connotations attached, it just so happens that the first 'Nephilim' we saw in Heroica was evil

"I do not doubt master Ji Pei's courage and his loyalty to his family and his city-he may be a saint at heart, but this city needs strong rulers who can stand up for themselves, not cunning politicians and spin doctors. Reputation is what mattters master Hybros, and if it was a choice between an Aoi diplomat or a veteran hero of Heroica, what choice do you think the people of this city will make? In another land or another age then yes I am certain that master Ji Pei would go down in history as a fine leader of men, but here in Eubric, we want the person with the best chance of winning over the ordinary people-the sailors, the fishermen-to be our candidate, so we can at least have a chance to get the union's views heard-and I am not convinced the people will empathise with master Ji Pei so much as master Holla...that is all." "And yes, I am a relative newcomer to the hall, Na'im Thamir be my name, but I have seen more in my life than many of the heroes assembled here put together-why should a wise old man not put his thoughts forward. After all: we are making history here."