Reroll

Lady Elaine Fairchild the first walks me back to the house… it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

She lets me in, and shouts, “Guess who I encountered on my walk?” Which of course lets me know I shouldn't mention the conversation… not that I would have.

There's three guys waiting for me on a flower-patterned couch, who stand when I arrive.  Elaine introduces me, “This is the social face of ‘Alice’, the not-angel that's been making the news lately for handing out healing like candy on Halloween.  ‘Alice’, these are the leaders of the resistance. First up….”

She nods at a man sitting far left, who looks slightly uncomfortable in his own skin, shuffling around a little constantly.  He's wearing a plain gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, plus an unremarkable gray fanny pack. Brown hair and hazel eyes, he has a slightly feral look to him, "This is Ralph. He is the current Alpha of the Alphas of the Lycanthropes, and has held that position for three years.  His faction includes basically all of the shape shifters in the Resistance, plus the more… martial inclined types.  His variety changes when they're emotional in addition to the nights of the full moon, and he is a VERY skilled fighter in any form.”

“Next up is Merlin,” she indicates an old white guy with even whiter hair and blue eyes in a rather fluffy light gray trench coat, holding an ornately carved hiking stick, “He leads the Arcane faction… pretty much anyone in the Resistance with a Myth that boils down to ‘a human with magic’ ultimately answers to him.  He is quite the academic.”

“Last up today, we have Vlad,” she indicates a pale man with a black trench coat, matching army boots, dark sunglasses and a large umbrella at his side.  His hair is black, his eyes are glowing faintly red, he has obvious fangs, and he looks at me like a hungry man looks at well-prepared steak… until he sniffs, at which point, he frowns like I've got poo on my shoe, “A vampire, obviously, he represents those in the Resistance that can't pass as human very easily, or even at all, and must remain in hiding for now.”

Lady Elaine nods, “Merlin, it's your show.”

The old man points at a recliner, “Won’t you please sit down?  These old bones much prefer some padding.”

I go ahead and sit down, as do the three reps.

“So, I have to ask,” Merlin begins, “What Myth lets you put out THAT much power for healing, change people's bodies, AND make folks ignore you when you want?”

I shrug, “Knowing that would also mean you know how my Myth ends,” it really wouldn't, but I don't want to show my hand, “and I'd rather keep that little problem known by as few people as I can possibly get away with; I'm sure you understand.  I mean…” I look at Ralph, “how many members have you lost because everyone knows about silver,” I turn to Vlad, “crosses, garlic, or wood?” Ralph and Vlad both turn slightly away, “So no, I'm not answering that one.”

Merlin chuckles, “Fair enough… so, regarding the humans… we’re in agreement on the ‘after’.”

My Sense Motive ‘Al’ fills me in, “and by that he means the Resistance leaders are in agreement with each other; not you.”

“We're willing to establish rules protecting the humans…” Merlin continues.

My Sense Motive ‘Al’ is having a field day with this guy, “...in the same sense that humans ‘protect’ chickens - everyone wants to maintain their food supply.”

“...in return for you joining our cause.  We are very curious to find out what all you can do.”

I chuckle as I bend truth out of all recognition as well, “Eh.  There's the healing, obviously, as well as the flight.  I can make servants…” I focus and use Create Reality to make a winged biped minion: A false angel… and skip Permanent Image and such so it will not last too long, “...but they're very fragile, don't last forever,” unless I want them to do so, “and cost a daily resource,” which I can easily recharge, “so I have some pretty sharp limits,” which I have founds ways to bypass. “I get a lot of help from some friends,” I'm not particularly reliant on buffs from Ed and Betty; I'm talking about the minions I make, “which is a big part of why the Inquisition is having trouble catching me, despite the public appearances.”

I have an EPIC Bluff modifier, by the way.

Merlin rubs his chin, “Having powerful allies is, itself, power of a sort… and I don't think the world has seen a better healer since about two thousand years ago.”

Wait, is he referring to… “He is,” an ‘Al’ supplies, “but Merlin isn't anywhere near that old; he isn't speaking from personal experience.”  Ah.

The old man continues, “I'm curious… does your healing work on Vlad?”

I don't actually keep healing talents directly any more… but then, I don't need to do so, “I can find out…” I pop out a few members of my library, keeping them unseen by anyone except myself, “...if you're willing, Vlad.”

The vampire shrugs, rolls up a sleeve, pulls out a knife, and cuts his arm open a little: He doesn't bleed.

I use Life on him… and with Esoteric Healing, that actually works: His wound closes up like magic… because it is.

Vlad nods, “That's good,” he sounds like a B movie vampire, complete with the bad Transilvanian accent as he examines his arm, “most of my kind have to heal the long way, even with healers around… well, donors work too.”  Vlad eyes Merlin, “But it seems some of us will need to be left to starve.”

Hmm… a vampire's ‘right to life’ - is that valid? “Is there a problem with animal blood?  Cows, sheep, pigs, and such?”

Vlad shakes his head, “Doesn't work. It has to be human, and my breed does not actually subsist on blood: We subsist on life; the blood is just the conduit. We'll take maybe a cup or so during a feeding, yet it still almost always kills the meal,” he smiles, “which is also why we don't just raid blood banks.”

Ugh, well isn't that a terrible tangle of a trolley problem.  Death row inmates, maybe? Depends on how often.  Although… “I'm just planning for after, mind, but how often are we talking here, and how does that ‘almost’ work out?”

“Every full moon… which is some of the friction we have with the mutts…” Ralph growls at that, Vlad continues, “...we hunt the same prey at the same time. And the rare survivors become more of our kind.”

That means death row inmates are not viable, even if judges are looser with that one. Hmm… I think Pathfinder actually has an item for that, though… I need to check the books.  An amulet, I think? “I'll need to see if I can find a solution that doesn't require anyone dying… including you.”

“Good luck with that…” the vampire rolls his eyes.

“Regardless…” Merlin is apparently sitting between the two for a reason, “We're here about you. You want to protect the pathetic humans… fine. You're still one of us, though, subject to the same hunting we are. So, here's what I propose: When we do a raid on the Inquisition, you send your minions in for scouting, and hang back, keeping the more martial types healthy…” Merlin goes on for a bit, spinning a plan that's fair for what I'm pretending are my limits.

I consider, “I'm guessing this plan is a bit less hypothetical, and more something you're planning fairly soon?”

Ralph chuckles, “He's got you there.  Yeah kid, we're planning a raid.  We found one of their storage facilities for the big goons.  We plan to break in and burn the place to the ground.   It's going down in about two weeks.  Can we count on your support?  Oh, and bring your friends….”

I consider, “I'll need to talk it over with my friends.”

Merlin nods, “That's fair… can we meet again on, say, this Wednesday, with your answer?”

I nod, “That should be fine.”

“All right then…” Merlin starts to stand, “and if your friends are up for it, please bring them as well.  We all need to band together to survive.”

I rise as well, “I'll let them know about the invitation,” I do plan to follow through on that, at least, “and I'll plan to see you Wednesday.”

I bow slightly, “See you then.”

Lady Elaine Fairchild the first walks me to the door, and follows me out.  Once the door is closed, she opens the conversation, “So.”

I nod, “I get it now. So why are you….”

She shrugs, “They're the least bad option for my family: I'm effectively immortal, my kids are merely ageless from thirty.  Merlin is okay, other than his superiority complex. Vlad really does limit it to what he needs to survive, and encourages his kindred to do the same…” she considers, “he doesn't engage in any enforcement, though.  Still… when it is literally his only choice for survival, I can't quite bring myself to call what he does murder.” She takes a breath, “Ralph turns into a mindless ravenous beast on the full moon: The rest of the time he's just a bit abrasive, regardless of form.  I once convinced him to try locking himself up for his ‘moon days’ with the idea that it would help prevent them from finding us: The only result was a broken cage and a beast that was hungrier than usual.  He doesn't exactly do it by choice either.”

She shakes her head, “But they both still kill people who don't deserve it, and regularly. I can't say as I know what the right answer is.”

I consider, “Nor I. Well… I'll probably see you Wednesday.”

As I fade out to head up to my ship, Ms. Fairchild nods, “Until then, toots.”