Intimidation 101
Two hours later, Weiss drummed her fingers on the table while Ruby tried to barter with a captive bandit, the conversation looping as their well-meaning cleric worked in vain to persuade the reeking scumbag to tell her where his gang's hideout was. More than anything, she was ready to be done. The last hour and half had been a mixture of combat rolls, bad jokes she didn't get, and Ruby trying desperately to make this fun for her partner.
All in all, it had been a little … bland. Ruby kept dropping out of character to explain things Weiss already knew, and the Rowan character herself was just a little saccharine for her taste. Tesni was … well, she was Yang with a broadsword. If anything, she seemed less prone to puns … so that might actually an improvement. Ciara was arrogant, egotistical, self-centered, and completely, insufferably, aloof. Weiss had to admit, whatever Blake was going for was working – she genuinely hated Ciara. Johan …. She fought the urge to groan. She wasn't sure why Pyrrha kept trying to boost the boy's confidence, especially if Johan was a confident Jaune. She was more than ready to murder the bard, what with the rhymes, the near-suicidal bravado, and the constant singing. Oh lord, the singing. She'd heard ursas carry a tune with more skill than Jaune.
Whatever her feelings about her companions, they needed the brigand to tell them where the nearby bandit camp was, to get to the next link in the current chain of deals (probably ending in them butchering the entire den and coming back with their leaders' head) but luck had not been with them. Or their dice rolls.
Jaune – no, 'Johan' – had tried convincing him with his best poetry, promptly rolled a 1, and strummed something that made Weiss' ears bleed. Or at least feel like they were. Rowan kept appealing to the dirtbag's better nature (one Weiss was fairly confident he didn't have) and Tesni's attempt at 'intimidation' had ended with her knocking him back into unconsciousness. Ciara was in the corner, being a quiet loner and not helping, apart from the occasional snarky comment.
Okay. She needed to think. The faster this ended, the faster she could get back to studying. Bribery and intimidation hadn't worked, and neither had appealing to whatever shred of dignity or decency this scum might have left. So, if the threat of a beating hadn't worked ….
It took her a moment to remember that technically, the brigand didn't actually exist. There might be repercussions in-game, but she could feasibly do anything she wanted. Add that she wanted this to end so she could stop playing ….
She wanted to move on. She wanted information from a reluctant bandit, and she possessed untold amounts of inherited magical might.
Yeah. She could do this.
If you want something done right …
Eirwen stood up, tugging on Rowan's tunic, pulling the Tielfling back as she took her place.
The bandit sneered up at her, a bruise starting to purple from where Yang had punched him. "Your turn, Ice Queen?" Really, Pyrrha? Come on.
The sorceress didn't bother with a response, merely reached down, and began unlacing the bandit's boot.
"Hey, while you're down there, why don't you take those pretty lips of yours, and kiss my-"
He never finished his sentence. Mainly because of the scream that ripped from his throat when Eirwen fired a ray of frost through his foot.
Fighting not to retch from the smell wafting up from the disgusting appendage, she waited for the ruffian to quit whining. It wasn't like she'd taken his foot off. Yet.
Once he quieted, she tapped the chilled skin with her dagger, waiting for him to meet her eyes. "Losing a limb to frostbite is rather … unpleasant. I am going to start with your toes, freezing them again and again until they fall off, one-by-one. When they're gone, I'll start on your fingers. We'll see how many I get through before you pass out. Then I'll have our cleric patch you up, and we'll go again, and again, and again, until you tell me what I want, or you run out of skin to freeze."
He started to jerk fruitlessly in the chair, the rope keeping him firmly in place. Summoning her power to her fingertips, she called the magic into her hand, aiming down towards his small toe."
"Alright! They … they're in a cave on the southern end of the forest. I'll take you there, just get her away from me!"
Eirwen stood, pulling a map out of her pack before forcing the grimy man to tell her where his little friends were hiding. Turning back to the party, she dusted off her hands, light flicking between her fingers as she magically rid herself of the moron's filth.
"Now was that really so difficult?"
Looking up, she found the others staring, their expressions a mixture of shock, bewilderment, and in the case of Ciara, something that almost looked like respect.
"What? You were taking too long."
"Well, you were." Weiss ignored Ruby's gaping jaw, setting aside the 19 she'd rolled on her intimidate check. "Plus, I have that proficiency thing in intimidate, so I think I have the highest bonus anyway."
Yang leaned in towards her sister. "Hey, Ruby."
"Yeah?"
"Did you, maybe, prepare Detect Evil, or something?"
"I can tomorrow, why?"
"When you get a chance, could you check her alignment?"
"No peeking!" Weiss snapped. Granted, it wouldn't help them anyway. She'd chosen Chaotic Neutral after all. It's not like she was Evil. Just a little self-serving. If anything, it gave her the most self-interest and the most options, along with a great reason for her to completely disregard whatever inconvenient laws they ran across. Gaming 101. 'Sociopathy is the quickest way to success.' Always ask for a fee, always bring a canary, and giving gifts to your companions can totally make them forget the war crimes you just committed.
Clearing her throat, Weiss looked up at Pyrrha, fingers still drumming on the table. The sooner she wiped out this little patch of resistance, the sooner the game would be over.
"I assume we're headed to go deal with the bandits? Or are we letting another caravan get raided?"
"Alright. Eirwen, are you leading the group?"
Weiss rolled her eyes. Pyrrha kept insisting on using their character names, and it always took her a second to remember who she was talking to.
"I'm new at this, not a complete moron. The rogue goes in first."
