Tragedy of the Duel

My comrades in the vanguard have settled into natural tactical roles; I am grateful for this. They are competent combatants, which is valuable with the swarm of cultists and kobolds plaguing the Aias temple of harvest. Avindir took a shot-calling role, targeting high profile targets with flames and alerting us of a group on our flank. Makaan and I kept the front line intact by haggering the kobolds and cultists from around a corner with arrows, darts, fists, and hammers. Calliope even joined in the melee with a few mace swings and horn bashes.
 
Speaking of darts -- Makaan ran out of javelins, so I let him use some darts. I think that Makaan believes them kobold-sized javelins. I didn't correct in the middle of a fight and now it is starting to feel too late. How peculiar. I wonder how long I can keep him thinking this true?
 
While we were defending the temple, a particularly burly priest (priestess?) was evacuating the temple.
 
All in all, we were quite efficient, if a bit beaten up, when the temple was saved. Blessed be the harvest grain and the community heart!
 
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Our return to the keep was simple and uncomplicated. However, things swiftly took a skyfall. The citizenry were justifiably distraught over the sounds of their home and livelihoods being razed by fanatic cultists. Worse, there were still citizens missing. Dead, captured, injured, hiding, who knows?
 
I was busy with the reporting, meditating, and contemplation, but I did notice a fellow kenku in the keep. Peculiar indeed; but alas investigating this wonder was delayed by a call for a duel of honor.
 
A massive dragon-like woman man thing wanted to fight to the death with one of the defenders of the town to account for the death of their troops. I understand their drive, but they are the aggressors here. Their honor is blemished already and I find it almost disgusting how they twist the concepts. However, I remember how we've traded and interacted with the Nightmare Dragon's folk before. They are honest, almost to a fault. They have such pride that they've seemed to find no value in deception. They want something and the world would naturally accommodate.
 
The duel's conditions become more concerning quite soon. They have children and a woman hostage -- these tokens in their eyes will be handed over independent of the outcome of the duel, but the duel must happen. The beast of a being demands someone meets their challenge. It turned out a guard captain wanted to fight because of a relation to the woman. A noble desire, but I sincerely felt that none of us were a match against the beast of a being.
 
I felt a deep conflict in this moment. If I insisted, I could be the challenger in the duel. Innocent civilians were in the crossfire of the raze, which my order was made to protect people in these kinds of situations. Simultaneously, though, my order isn't a martial one. While I like a scrap, this isn't a regulated duel as much as walking into a butchering. The beast was over twice my height and every part of their form was a weapon. I am, even now, quite certain I would not have won. Thus, my heart was torn: do I uphold the ideals of my order and work to defend the innocents, or do I retreat because it would have been my almost certain demise?
 
My struggle took too long and the guard man proceeded to prepare for the duel. In solidarity, and to protect the hostages, we accompanied him to the fight.
 
He died in seconds, cleaved almost in half.
 
The woman was distraught, which is understandable. The children were traumatized, which is only natural. I felt so useless.
 
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The keep was somber. The sounds of the raze kept people from finding rest. My cohorts struggled in particular, I believe.
 
I did meet with the kenku, who was a brother in my order. Brother Stretch was traveling with Brother Leosin, whom I was to meet here. Brother Stretch's leg was seriously injured, Brother Leosin taken by the cult, and the rest of their traveling cohorts scattered to seek out reinforcements from the Lodge. Brother Stretch was left alone, being the now slowest member of the cohorts, and unable to pursue a rescue of Brother Leosin.
 
Brother Leosin should know more about the nature of the cult, their motivations, and their plans. Unfortunately, all that's left is a broken quarterstaff and a silver amulet.
 
This was all done through our game of dragon chess.
 
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The governor person offered each of us 250 gold crowns or whatever currency they use in the Empire to track the now-leaving raiders, for they have taken people in carts or carriages or something. This aligned quite well with Leosin's rescue plans mulling in my mind, so I readily accepted. The governor also provided two magical potions of healing. They seem of acceptable quality; I look forward to seeing how effective they are. Magical healing truly is a wonder.
 
I went to take a short respite and get as many hours of sleep as I could. Adrenaline is a poor substitute for actual rest. In the morn, I plan on helping ensure everyone is properly packed before we head out with great haste to save lives.