"Hey, woah, I can't go in there." Ulric the Chaste balked, hands up, eyes wide.
"Why not?" asked Chlothar, incredulously. "What now?"
"That sign," said Ulric, pointing. "Private property. It would be unlawful. I'm Lawful Good, you know. A True follower of Sawash."
Chlothar palmed his face with his dinnerplate-sized hands. This was the corrupt king's castle, they were a raiding party, they were raiding it ... he didn't have time for this. "Fine, Ulric. You just stay out here. Watch for ... I don't know, cows. We're going in." Wanda, Chlothar, and Erin Lightfoot stealthily crept in the hidden entrance. Ulric stayed behind, admiring the stars as they came out. Ulric started whistling to himself.
They'd been caught. Guards had found Ulric, who'd cheerfully explained that his friends were inside on a raid, so the guards rushed off to find them. The party had found the treasure room on their map. But it was empty of treasure, it had been a false lead. When they turned around they were surrounded by dozens of guards. The battle had been short and furious, and ended with the party being lead off in chains. To different prisons. "What, you think we're stupid, going to tie you all up together?" asked the guards. "You're professionals, you're each dangerous enough alone."
"These Phoregians, your highness, they'll stop at nothing," advised the Advisor. "What are you going to do about them?"
The king swirled the wine in his goblet, judging its bouquet. It suggested promise, but was on the fruity side. "Always the Phoregians with you," he grumbled. "Or the Cambalacks or the Sokees."
"Wine and Cheese will not protect us," oiled the Advisor. "What are your orders?"
"My orders are to do nothing! They are not a threat to us at all. We rely on them for their excellent Muscadet grapes."
The Advisor flounced off to the queen, speaking to her in hushed tones. Perhaps if this harvest was mixed with some of the Chardonnay from the southern vineyards? He heard "Phoregians", "barracks", "drunkard", and the chortle of Queen Lucinda. He loved her. She was his first cousin and he'd loved her since childhood. But she really did get on his nerves with all this intrigue and jockeying for power sometimes.
The king walked over to an archer standing guard. "Nice bow," he said. "May I inspect it?" The king took the bow, cocked an arrow. "Is this right?" asked the king. The guard inspected his hold, agreed. The king swung around and shot the Advisor in the back. He gasped, with an arrow through his chest, then fell over in a pool of blood.
"Alfred!" shouted the Queen. "You could have hit me!"
"But I didn't!" said the King gaily. Ah, Elspbeth was bringing in the latest cheeses ...
Wanda rattled her chains. Solid iron. Cold against her wrists. A good, solid feel. She was shackled tightly to the wall. The stone wall was cold, sandstone, roughly hewn. Maybe slightly damp? Dirty hay covered the cobbled floor. The smell was dirty people, but also somewhat like a barn ...
Another prisoner sat in front of her on the floor. Judging from his beard and filth he had been here awhile. He chuckled at her. "No more adventuring for you, m'lady!"
"Mm .. what? Oh yes, I suppose so." she said. "You think I'll be here long?" she asked.
"Oh yes," said the prisoner.
"Excellent! I'm alive! And hopefully for a long time. Let's see. Magic! What fun! Can't reach a wand. Um. Oooh yes." She contorted her face oddly, and the dungeon was filled with a soft white light. She raised her eyebrow, and the light faded into pink. "You know any songs? Or maybe ghost stories?" she asked the prisoner, as the light shifted again to green.
Ulric was walked into the King's audience, escorted by two guards. "This one," said the lead guard, "tipped us off on the raiding party last night. He was in their party, but he says he refused to go on the raid. He's been cooperating with us."
"What's your story?" asked the King.
"I'm a cleric," said Ulric. "Lawful good! I just want to be helpful. My party needed a healer, so I was helping them."
The king made a skeptical look, then peered to his right. "Seer?" called the King.
An old hag hobbled over, staring Ulric in the eyes. She waved her hands, cast some bones. She stared at them. "Chaotic evil," she said, eyeing Ulric suspiciously.
"No, lawful good!" said Ulric. "The bones always say chaotic evil for me. I don't know why. It hurts me. They're just don't work for me, somehow." Ulric chewed on his fingernails. It was unnerving how the universe always got him wrong. He scratched his butt.
"What an oaf," murmured Queen Lucinda to her King. "I quite agree" he murmured back.
"I could work for you," said Ulric. "I'm skilled at healing. And I can teach, I know the 327 saints of Sawash by heart. And I am gifted in the kitchen."
"Are you familiar with souffles?" asked the King.
"But of course," answered Ulric.
[Ulric tries an assignment. It goes poorly.]
[Ulric is sent to retrieve a holy artefact of Sawash. The high priest is in prayer for hours, then comes out alarmed and sweating. "Sawash has spoken to me! We must act!" "What, is he angry?" "No! He says Ulric the Chaste is coming!" A subdeacon leaps to his feet alarmed. "What must we do?" "Who is this Ulric?" asked another. "Do you remember the Monestary of Sokee?" "Yes?" "He went there on a pilgramage, and plague followed him, everyone died, and eventually the Monestary was taken over by the gibbering nuns of Nool." "Coincidence?" "No he brought the rats himself as pets. And when he visited the temple at Fook ... well now there is no more temple at Fook." "What must we do?!" "Take that artefact, get it far away from here, make sure Ulric finds it easily, and DO NOT ENGAGE."]
[Eventually, with Ulric's assistance, the castle collapses from trebuchets somehow aimed the wrong way and is overrun by angry ostriches. The party escapes, gets the treasure, is joined by Ulric and Elspbeth. The party returns with Elspbeth and riches but Ulric strikes out on his own path, unwilling to associate any further with these sinners.]
This was in response to a prompt on reddit.com r/WritingPrompts, "A band of adventurers unfortunately get imprisoned by the corrupt king of the land, and are now trapped in the dungeon. Except, they forgot the kind-hearted Cleric. Now, He/She has to go on a dark path to rescue her friends and kill to survive." This story is only a first cousin to what was requested, both in letter and in spirit. I wanted to do this character anyhow and was hunting for a prompt that I could plausibly apply it to.