Butyltina 28, 1000 PC

Post date: Aug 02, 2009 9:40:16 PM

Oli died yesterday, but he got better. Hurray for magic!

You see, Oliveryn's house decided to hold a slave auction yesterday. At the time, I had no idea why he would make that one of his first acts upon entering Troll's Bridge. Later, his mother, Susana, explained that the auction was a ruse to lure potential assassins into the open. Well, that plan worked brilliantly. A female assassin struck Oli dead with a well-placed arrow before any of us could react. Panic in the crowd of slave-buyers soon ensued, and it looked like the coup of Troll's Bridge was ended before it began.

Luckily, Ms. Sky's divine magic is very strong: she was able to revive Oli from death. T'Krosh aided in the healing process, and then the rest of our group launched our counterattack on the assassin. The elf assassin was too quick for any of my fire rays to find their mark, so I was not much of a help. Ozi's blades were also easily dodged. Wintersky stole the show by using magic to turn herself and the panther huge. They then tore the assassin to pieces in a combined assault.

As Susana later told us, the slaves had in fact already been freed, so they were not actually for sale. This was a relief to Wintersky and Ozi particularly, though it seemed impractical to me. What do slaves do when they are suddenly told to leave? They have no homes, no real property, and no jobs. At least Oli's family took care of them. Still, it is for the best I think. Slavery cannot be justified when it is imposed on the innocent. If kobolds were rounded up and put to work solely because of their race, I am sure I would be the first to call for a revolt. As punishment for crimes though, it is a valid penalty. What are the other options? Execute criminals or toss them into an oubliette? Better to put them to work so that society benefits and that they might someday earn redemption.

In other news, Luanes arrived in Troll's Bridge. I was not worried, of course. With all that thick armor she wears, there is no way she could be killed by a stray arrow like Oli. Sparta also introduced a human boy to me named Tun. I am not sure what Sparta finds so interesting about Tun, but they seem to be close friends now. Sparta even wanted to buy a weapon and armor for the boy. Poor Tun; he'll be lucky if he lives to be an adult.

Immediately after Oliveryn's assassination.