
Lawrance continues his lecture, finished eating now with crumbs scattered over the table. "The Naga and Yuan-Ti don't really have a 'relationship' 'per se. They inhabit similar environments, but are usually not together unless something threatens both of them or their lands. I hope we don't get thought of as such a threat! Hm, need to make something around the castle rim to discourage armies. Caltrop dumpers? Arrow volleys? Oil slicks? What did that Gnome Seventh-Try-At-Girl talk about before his arm blew off? Squirters?" He leans forward, using fingertips and magic to move crumbs around the table, forming various shapes and designs as he gets lost again.
"Wait, did you call me Penelope?" Perry asks, only now having caught it. "I think we're going to get along great, Lawrance," Perry begins laughing hysterically, tears now forming in his eyes. "Thank you for the lecture, teacher," Perry bows.
Startled but the loud burst of laughter across the table, Lawrance's head jerks up and he stares. "Oh, hello, Perry. Did you make a joke? Lecture? Oh, yes about the serpent races. Right, I was saying something about them, wasn't I. Neither species would be fun to face unprepared.Did I eat?" He asks, looking at the fragments of food in his plate."I guess I did. Must have been good food. Well, back to work!" Getting up, he goes into the kitchen to thank the chefs there and gives them each a few silver as thanks. Edited: Gknightbc on 5th Feb, 2018 - 5:48am
"Thank you Lawrence, for the informative chat, the Yuan-Ti, and the Naga creatures indeed sound like dangerous creatures with near demi-god ability. Equally concerning, is the fact the hold a powerful grudge, if we kill one of their kin," Tazskan replies.
"Well, I will see you both soon, I think I will go back and freshen up," he adds.
Lia grins at Poljen." I won't do that often. No need to distract or undermine his leadership. I thought you two might appreciate it. I can be discreet about things. Velon on the other hand .... ." She gives him a look and then breaks into a smile.
"I'm glad that we are all on the same page now. Poljen, I know that you put on. You are quite intelligent but don't like for others to know that for some reason. I think you do that so people will underestimate you." She watches for his reaction.
.
Poljen sketches a bow at Lia. "Indeed, I am smarter than I play. But I am not smart enough to try playing smarter." He then puffs up his chest in an exaggerated manner and adds, "Since it is impossible for a foe to overestimate my prowess, I'd rather they underestimate me. And once in a great while, it even works!"
"Wait, thought it was my role to play the fool? Perhaps it only used to be. I for one never believed you to be dumb, Poljen. Your instincts in battle are too good. You'll have to try harder. Perhaps your new best friend Perry can teach you more on acting! Ha!"
"... But yes, thank you both. I do need support in leading. In fact, as Lia said, everyone probably needs jobs to spread the burden in one way or another or I will surely make more mistakes along the way. With that, Lia is going to take charge of vetting newcomers with her truth spell and keeping an eye on them. I've encouraged her to rely on the rest of us for help, of course, including the two of us and one such as Nikolaos. Poppo and Lawrance have really taken to the navigation of the castle and magical defenses. Taz seems quite interested in martial defense of the castle with the ballistas. Perhaps he and Cratol can train any new recruits for such purposes. Nikolaos seems well suited for information gathering, especially in towns we visit. I'd ideally like everyone to choose their job themselves, something they are enthusiastic about and thus good at. Perhaps we should ask Zarra and eventually Perry about what type of jobs they would like."
"Most importantly, since we are all here and it has been mentioned, I'd like to talk about some of our recent concerns during our missions. Poljen you had concerns that I believe I share, and asked Lora to tell me about some and Lia to inquire with me upon her return as well. Despite that I have not actually heard your thoughts on the matter. I assume they are about less than tactically sound methods being used, and whether the healing abilities of the group are being put to the best use." Velon turns to Lia and elaborates a bit on the last point. "Before we fought the white dragon I tried to convince the group to do all they can to help Poljen keep the dragon occupied, and in turn we heal Poljen as much as possible as he seems to be able to take twice the punishment of any other man or woman I have met. Some agreed, some did not, but in the end the battle was a real mess. A dragon is unpredictable, to be sure, but Poljen received very little in the way of divine aid because others were in danger and near death so often, some of which I feel could have been avoided."
"What do you say, Poljen? Am I on the right track?"
Poljen purses his lips. "That was part of it. Not following through on the plan made things much more difficult for me. But we survived." He looks uncomfortable as he adds, "But my other problem was, well, to be honest, Cratol. When we went after the giants, I told him and Lora how I felt we should attack. All of us attack the larger one together, and hopefully bring it down quickly, so we could then focus on the smaller one as a group. Cratol assured us that it would be wiser as inflicting bleeding attacks on both was smarter. As much as I differed, I could not change his mind, but as we began to strike, it became apparent he did not have a bladed weapon, which made his whole rationale for his plan… unworkable. And now with his behavior, he is becoming quite distant from us all. Most might think it all stems from Nikolaos' song, when he suddenly left the tavern. But I worry more that there is something amiss with him. And I leave it to you to talk with him."