Cromis, the man whom Kayne was advancing towards, glanced to his left and nodded politely to him in recognition. The large genasi ignored the other nods and words of greeting from some of the gathered travelers. In a dour tone, Kayne growled, "I would have words with you, Cromis..."
"How many?" Tegeus responded bon mot, loooking the swordsman's way again.
"Several," the hulking warrior stated plainly, not in the mood for returning the wit of the Doombringer's words.
"Kayne." The bearded man nodded and gestured for the two of them to leave the road, and with it the company of the other travelers in the vicinity. The pair walked a short distance away from the road and Cromis asked in a hushed tone, "Which words would ye have?"
Having little desire to whisper, Kayne had nothing to hide and spoke in a slightly lowered tone, still loud enough for others to hear, "You seem to know this damnable place better than I. There is very little gold to be had for mercenaries around here." Tegeus Cromis cringed at his volume, and looked resignedly at the large man. Sniffing, the large warrior continued, "Where would a man of my talents make the most of his time here..." He trailed off and glanced past Cromis, then back down towards the road where some of the travelers were departing.
"That would depend on what ye're looking for," the Doombringer of Hoar replied.
"You are a man of judgment..." Kayne stated in his typical flat tone, fixing Cromis with an earnest look. "Perhaps I can lend my swordarm to your cause?"
Tegeus Cromis fixated on the chiseled earthen features of the genasi and narrowed his eyes. Testing the swordsman, he asked, "...what cause do ye think that is?"
"You deal justice, as I do, where the law fails to do so when it damned well should. Though, your fervor..." he let the words trail off in an unfinished thought. Kayne realized too late he may be insulting the man who may potentially offer him a purpose and possibly a way to make some extra coin.
The Doombringer frowned slightly, his eyes narrowing further. "What of my fervor?"
"I could be judging you too swiftly, but out there in the gods-wretched mountains you seemed willing to win a sodding battle in spite of a war."
Cromis shook his head slowly, and remarked calmly, "No, I remained aware of all the fronts, while ye focused on only one as the others fell."
"The wizard... with that 'revived' monk..." Kayne remarked, furrowing his eyebrows as a perplexed look crossed the genasi's face. He wasn't sure if his bearded friend understood what he meant. The doombringer simply nodded in response, his face that of a satisfied teacher bringing understanding to a student.
"The war I fight is not to save Nashkel from giant raids, that is but one battle. The war is the fight against injustice. Another front..." Tegeus Cromis paused and glanced absently past Kayne for a moment before continuing. "Necromancers. Another... Tyranny. All worthy of attention. Ye focus on but one and the others fall to injustice while ye sleep."
"Right..." The earthen man replied ruefully, nodding his head slowly. He seemed sorry for bringing it up and became angry at himself for seeming foolish, and spat, "You could have waited until we were out of the battle with the poxy giants and took care of it afterwards."
"I would have, but with one that fights within sight of others with reanimated powers..." The Doombringer of Hoar trailed off and sighed heavily. "That power in a man so foolish, I could not be sure we would have made it back to Nashkel. Nor would I be certain that he deserved punishment, while the Amnian guards would have killed him on the spot. Patience must tempered with haste, complacency is the enemy of justice." The bearded priest relaxed a bit and leaned back, his lecture delivered.
"Sod it... like I stated earlier. You have my swordarm if you need it. You see this shyt more clearly than I do." The hulking warrior scowled, quick to change the topic and escape any further lecturing from the older man.
Cromis looked over the burly genasi in an appraising manner and nodded his head. "Yer sword would serve justice well... so long as it has fair guidance. Here..." The Doombringer rummaged about himself for a brief moment and retrieved a book from a pocket in his cloak, handing it over to Kayne. "Ye need not share our faith, only our goals." He motioned a nod to the book and thrust it foward.
The earthsoul gave him a shallow nod and then looked off into the distance towards two adventurers walking along the trade route past them. He then stated in a low tone, "Perhaps you're right..." Kayne reached out with his swordhand and grabbed ahold of the book. Opening the cover and flipping a few pages, the swordsman gave each page a quick glance in general observation. Taking special interest in a piece of parchment tacked on the inside of the cover, he murmured, "I'll look it over at the campfire."
Tegeus Cromis nodded his head. "Thank ye, Kayne."
Kayne placed the book in a small pack at his hip and offered Cromis a shallow nod. In a sour tone, he grumbled, "Somebody needs to take care of this ruddy world..."
The Doombringer smirked slightly and replied, "I'm glad to have ye here to do that."
((Taken from the In-Game Chat Logs of Killington and Marauxus))