Sounds good to me.
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Yeah, sorry, I like the *idea* of Drekisal, but for some reason I'm just not really getting into him.
I'd be okay with ending it. I haven't really felt like Drekisal has 'clicked' for me, and I'm trying to devote more time and energy to writing a short story and gearing up for a novel now, so conserving a bit more of my creative writing 'juices' for that would be welcome.
Drekisal gives the area a disdainful glance. "I doubt there is aught of use to be seen here. Search quickly, then go through the other passage not closed by one of their doors."
Huzzah!
"If the mantids traveled mostly to the west, so shall we," Drekisal says. "Let us see what else they may have left behind."
Just learning more cold spells would be a start. :D It does suggest that attacking their nests during winter would be an effective way of wiping them out, though possibly dangerous if they're active enough to defend themselves in great numbers.
"Any sign of recent tracks on any of the passageways?"
Drekisal arranges his robes to cover his snout awkwardly. He speaks loudly to be heard through the muffling cloth. "While unpleasant, we should search here quickly. If this was a former mantid nest, there may be clues here to as yet undiscovered portions of their nature or weaknesses we could use to our advantage." True to his word, he begins looking around himself.
Drekisal gives Gork a short nod. "We go forward," he half-states, half-commands to the group.
"Jhaelwyn. Histrok. Can you determine anything unusual about the passageway beyond? Perhaps mantid tracks?"
"Hmmm, odd," Drekisal comments. He considers the oddity for a moment longer, then looks up to Gork. "Gork, remove it."
Drekisal narrows his eyes. "If it is the mantids, the sheer fact of its construction is of interest. If not, then who made it? Either way, we must open it. Is there a hidden catch?"
So I believe we're pressing on into the mine right now. Need any decisions from me at present?
Drekisal nods. "Then we shall all go in, save for our rearguard." He orders the ordinary soldiers to stay behind and stand guard, seeing no need for numbers in cramped quarters. "Jhaelwyn, you will take point, unless we find need to douse our lights," he commands. "Gork, you will be in the rear. The rest of us shall be in between."
Drekisal is unfazed by Gork's outburst, instead simply nodding slightly at his apology. He turns again to Jhaelwyn. "Scout ahead until you can determine how bad this blockage is. If the passageway is fully sealed only a little ahead, there is no reason to worry about who can fit. If not, we will want to know the size of the corridor."
I was mostly leaving it open to see whether or not Gork wanted to try squeezing. Sounds like he does, so we can go ahead with him following along with the party.
Drekisal eyes the partially collapsed shaft. "It seems likely any clues we might find about our prey would be within," he comments, then looks up at Gork. "We will need a rearguard, in case some mantids come to this place. Pick out which of the men you will keep with you."
"Perhaps later we might do something with the materials. For now, let us press on towards the mines. Even if there is little to hunt, if the original emergence of the mantids was nearby, we may be able to learn something of our prey."
"There will be little of use here," Drekisal comments. "Interesting that the mantids are not here. It will make travel towards the mine easy, though if there are none there to slay this will not be much of a hunt."
We will travel cautiously, and camp further out. Does anyone have suggestions of good precautions to take? I'd assume Jhaelwyn will scout again.
Ah, okay, and I see the camp now, too. Amazing what actually zooming in can do. :D Hmmm... there's a lot of infestation between us and the mines, right? Most of those hexes have mantids (as far as we know)? Hmmm... seems like a direct line from camp to JJ13 might work, taking us through the ruined village. We'll have to keep our eyes out along the way and think about trying to wipe out nests, but we're definitely going to need to get more men if we're going to fight through that much territory.
Ummmm... where were the abandoned mines on the map again?
Just a day rest, sorry I didn't make that clear.
"I doubt there shall be much fighting within the mines themselves. It is the land around we shall have to fight for," Drekisal states. "Though I do not think any have ventured within to make certain of this. We must be prepared for either case."
Drekisal lets the silence stretch for a while before shifting his wings slightly. "Then we shall hunt towards this goal. Jhaelwyn, I trust that replacing our used antivenom is going smoothly? We shall need it as we press ahead." He clacks his little claws together. "Let us prepare for the hunt. Are you all clear on your responsibilities? Then get to them. We move today."
Many thanks! I suppose at this point I'm as much responsible for pusing things along as the GM, sorry I haven't touched it recently. I just forgot that I had an idea for moving the conversation along.
Drekisal nods to Jhaelwyn and Gork. "Is there anything further we may do to improve our tactics?"
"Now we shall talk of where we shall hunt. In addition to power among the hunters, we must also think of land--once clear of mantids, the land we claim can be another source of strength for us. It is my thought to work towards the old mine in the area. Do any of you speak against this?"
Ah, excellent, thank you! How much can we use to replenish our antivenom? Antivenom supplies are our most critical need at present.
"What traps and poisons do we have supplies for?" Drekisal asks pointedly. "It is a good thought, but we can use only what we have on hand. I doubt there is much to purchase here that would be useful for such things. In addition, we would need to draw them in to ground of our choosing. How could we do this?"
After he finishes his morning meditations, Drekisal sends for his officers to join him in front of his tent. Once all are assembled (and he has checked to make certain no one else is nearby to listen), he begins, "It is time for another hunt. One hunt has established us as exceptional. Another will cement the fact that we cannot be ignored. Our goals in this are twofold. First, we must maneuver to lead here in this camp. We are not many, and we will need more to accomplish our goals. Second, we do wish to begin clearing out the mantids in this area. If we can clear even a portion of these lands of their presence this place can serve us as the beginning of our strength." He sweeps his eyes over the others, and somehow his sense of presence makes up for his lack of height. "We must learn from our previous experience. What can we do to prevent casualties in this next battle? What might we be missing in our plans?"
That would be a good idea, yes.
Yidi:
"Very good. Keep us informed as you are able. We shall have to stay aware ourselves."
Drekisal looks to Histrok. "We shall need to begin cultivating other contacts. Keep your eyes on our men, see if any are striking up friendships with the others. I shall watch myself as well." He turns back to Yidi. "And you as well. Our success will breed envy, but it may also attract those who seek a better deal, so to speak. I would rather know when they come to us what manner of men they are than to be surprised after the fact."
Drekisal notes the truth of his predictions with veiled amusement. He is unsurprised when Yidi appears. After sending for his second-in-command, he sits crosslegged on the ground within his tent, wings half-open on his back. "So long as they continue to resemble anything but the truth, rumor serves us well. Indeed, it might well conceal the truth even if one of our men lets it slip. Though we must add to our worries the idea that one day someone will resort to more direct methods to determine the truth," he states in reply. "Keep watch for any who may resort to such," he orders Yidi. "No doubt our success will win us a place on what passes for a council here. Further success will cement that place. From there, it will be a matter of turning influence into power."
Drekisal nods sagely in agreement to Histrok's words to the troops. "We shall learn from our battles and become stronger. This battle today was just a first step. Our next we will do better." His voice is clear and surprisingly strong for such a small creature. Back with his 'officers', he does not hesitate to answer Histrok's question. "We return to camp, mourning our casualty and how few mantids we killed to avenge him," he states. "We act as if it was a great tragedy that we lost a man in battle. The others will be expecting us to have been slaughtered in a first attempt, likely--if we draw attention to our success without bragging, it will set tongues wagging. Attention will turn to us." "Then... we fight without casualties. We must, as we said, learn from our battle and fight better next time. I suspect death is common here. We will want more men in time, and more influence now. Unexpected success will bring us both, though not without danger. The others will seek to learn our secrets. They must not until we choose."
Sounds like we have a plan, then.
That probably is the most expedient thing to do. If we do that, we may still want someone else to be the party 'face', since a kobold in charge of a mercenary company might lead to questions we don't want people asking at present. Perhaps Histrok can act the leader in front of other groups, while Drekisal visibly leads only when we're not in front of others?
I do think the easiest way to do this is to remove Surtur somehow. Perhaps he could suddenly fall ill? And tell Drekisal the Dragon chose him to lead should Surtur fall?
Hmmmm... I'm thinking about it. :D I don't really think I have the mental bandwidth at present to manage two characters, though... it may take me a bit to decide.
Hmmm... probably we'll need some crisis to bring this on, though. Something to show that Surtur isn't quite himself anymore, or something along those lines.
"Remember, no word of that to anyone," Drekisal warns the soldiers. "Likely the other mercenaries would be willing to take drastic actions to take the antidote from us."
We could keep Surtur around as a puppet of Drekisal. :D
Drekisal *is* much more of the power behind the throne type, yes. But it's still early days--it wouldn't be much of a change to his character for his ambition to grow to the point of wanting to be the acknowledged leader, if we wanted to go that way.
"We shall have to adapt our tactics to make it harder for them to swarm a small number of us at once," Drekisal observes. "Were they not able to concentrate their attacks we might have avoided even the one."
Drekisal works to save the lives of the unconscious soldiers.
Drekisal incants a few hissing words, and a ghostly, draconic head appears near one of the mantids attacking the left group of soldiers. It lunges forward and tries to take a bite out of its target.
Drekisal decides the moment has come to break his sanctuary. He steps slightly away from the mantid near him and towards the gap between the soldiers and Surtur. He inhales sharply, then exhales a (surprisingly large) fan of flames over four of the mantids.
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