An Awkward Dinner’s End

[Jim Roberts]

[Feb 6 early evening – The Godcarvers]

> “I get the feeling these kobolds have been watching you men(!) in
> action,” Jeyshann purred in delight, archly looking pointedly toward
> the Abbot and Finfin.
>
> “Confidence is low,” Lomi sighed gustily. “I’m too young to die. Oh
> well, pass over more of that cheesecake, the condemned girl wants to
> continue enjoying her last meal.”
>
> “Alas I have a feeling our last meal will be a Heroes’ Feast,”
> Laurelin quipped.

Finfin decided to focus upon the sight offered for his enjoyment – and
the performer’s words – and less on the catty comments from elsewhere.
They were, after all, more than somewhat deserved, in his estimation.
“That is a most excellent suggestion,” he opined, hoping that context
made it clear that he was referring to Tramma’s suggestion, and not the
notion of another round of cheesecake. Or, at least, not the one that
Lomi had in mind. The extra appreciative wiggle Tramma gave suggested
that the silver haired bard, at least, understood his reference.

Expanding on his point, Finfin quietly continued, “Laurelin? You are
uniquely poised among the rest of us wizards to be able to take
advantage of that chance. Not only because out of all of us, you alone
are the Arcane caster who can also navigate your own Wind Walk to the
Upwinders, but also, once there, you would be a one-elf army, in case
something untowards happens to the Upwinders. Or, if they discover a
late breaking threat to our Godcarver hosts.”

“I can handle that,” Laurelin nodded agreeably. “But… Heroes’ Feast;
which reminds me of some tactical things we need to talk about before
our next operation together.”

“Does Sister Erin need to yell ‘focus’,” Tramma stage-whispered with a
broad grin?

Finfin blinked, but waved one hand encouraging the Galdis to continue
her thought.

Laurelin nodded her thanks; she now had the floor. “Sorry to bring this
pleasant post dinner discussion down but I feel the need to say
something. We need to be more wary when it comes to charging headlong
into things.”

With a coordination that could NOT have been practiced and simply HAD to
be spontaneous, a veritable sea of single raised eyebrows provided a
chorus that was both silent and strident. "Ya THINK?"

Undaunted, the priestess continued her theme. "Some of us are very tough
but we are hardly indestructible. We can fix most things, some of them
are incredibly hard to fix, and many have long term consequences that
are nearly impossible to fix. If Tramma hadn’t thought really fast on
her feet, Dhulokk's trap could have been disastrous. That is the worst
example, but hardly the only time I felt we needed more caution.”

Finfin found himself nodding. And he was not the only one.

“None of us are the types to let a friend charge off to die,” the elven
priestess continued, warming to her thesis. “Please be aware if you run
off you might be pulling someone else into something they are not
capable of handling, or giving them a chance to destroy us piecemeal.”

Lomi cleared her throat significantly at the priestess’ observation.

“Even buffed to the gills, I’m on the squishy side compared to Finfin
and Ben,” Laurelin suggested. “There is nothing wrong with backing off
to let the front line people do their thing.”

“When I went into that side tunnel alone I had a hunch what was there,”
she explained. “I was fully prepared to run away if needed.”

Again, Finfin nodded. It really had seemed like an entirely likely place
to find The Lost Patrol, and a High Priestess of Valya Starkindler, his
own Tellic patron, seemed remarkably suited to evaporate wraiths.

“Dhulokk's plan was pretty good; he set us up and we walked into his
trap,” Laurelin continued. “Eventually we will run into foes that are
smarter, equally powerful, or ready for us. We can be alpha striked as
well, frankly none of us would look good with a 40 foot sword sticking
into our corpses.”

“Charging in works until it does not,” mused the small Drow wizard,
“then life gets interesting."

“Or ends,” Laurelin reminded Laquendi.

“That would be a subset of interesting,” Laquendi pointed out indifferently.

“That is the kind of folly that got a good part of an entire generation
of my people wiped out in a war we should never have been involved in 7
years ago,” Jeyshann growled. “I do not think from what I heard the
Upwinders were any more impressed than I was. From some of what they
said, I think they consider us useful and powerful idiots who are as
much a danger to themselves and their allies as they are whatever is in
front of them.”

“I would not disagree with that assessment,” Laquendi noted.

“That is VERY good to hear, because you’ve been one of the worst.”
Jeyshann told her curtly, then turned to snarl toward the Abbot, “I do
not know what has gotten into some of your people lately, Great Medicine
Man Kenobi. But it is REALLY beginning to concern me. Laurelin is RIGHT,
dammit. Just because we got lucky and had a few bursts of inspiration or
expended extreme amounts of divine power to bull through successfully
does NOT at all excuse that reckless approach. NOTHING in that place was
worth the risk; the Foreman would have been a lot more impressed I judge
had we approached the task he demanded with a fair bit more caution.
That has NOT been the way any of you has operated up to now. What in
hell is going on?”

The silver-haired Elf didn’t raise her voice.“Take your pick. Arrogance.
Ignorance. A history of victory against ridiculous odds. I screwed up in
some major ways on this particular dive,” she admitted. “There are
reasons for this I will not discuss here and now; several people at this
table are aware of the circumstances. It is a work in progress.”

“I. Do. Not. Care,” Jeyshann spat out, enunciating every word furiously.
“You have NO respect for life, not even your own. I’ve grown tired of
watching it, and having to protect others from whatever the hell is
going on with you. I am putting my foot down. Neither I nor any or those
following me are going anywhere near any operation you are involved in
until I see some evidence you’re getting your head screwed on straight.
Were it up to me, I’d relieve you of any command, and that is exactly
what I am advising the Great Medicine Man to do - you are a danger to
yourself and everyone around you right now.”

“The objective of serving the greater cause is not just putting your own
and others' asses on the line and dying gloriously,” Laurelin observed
solemnly. “It's knowing that the longer you and your teammates are
around serving the cause, the better off both you and the cause will be.”

Tramma was looking mortified, but she nodded agreement as the Galdis
spoke. The bard made no effort to exert her considerable diplomatic
skill to calm down the furious Cat Priestess. She was watching the Abbot
narrowly to see how he reacted to all this drama.

“He can, and I will of course abide by his decision on the matter,”
Laquendi agreed in the same calm tone. “and should he decide to remove
me from command I would recommend Orah as a replacement.”

The elven priestess captured Laquendi’s gaze with her own, and told her
quietly, “We care about you, Laquendi. Why won’t you?"

The Drow sat motionless in near-reverie as she considered a reply -
seconds stretching as she stayed in deep contemplation with her thoughts
somewhere else. When she did come back, it was with a deep sigh of
resignation before she spoke.

“It is not because I do not care about me. I am afraid of what I want
because it makes me feel I am greedy for things I do not deserve. It is
because I am afraid of everything, especially losing those I have only
recently come to consider friends, allies, comrades in arms, and
confidants. If that means I die in the dark so they can live in the
light, I am okay with that outcome.”

“Do you not understand,” Galdis Laurelin shook her head in sorrow? “You
are endangering the very people YOU care about this way, because they
WILL try to protect you even though you are ‘ok’ with dying. We are not.
Even if you will not choose life for yourself, I suggest you will have
to choose life for US.”

“I do now, thank you,” Laquendi intoned quietly.

Tramma stared intently at the dark elven woman, a serving spoon
completely forgotten held in one hand while her gaze attempted to see
what was going on inside Laquendi's head. Whatever she might think she
was sensing there, the usually ebullient comedienne chose not to comment.

Softening her tone and body language, Laurelin gently affirmed, “You
deserve to live, too.”

Ben closed his eyes for a moment of prayer. After making the sign of the
bolt he began. “Whether the TRUTH is spoken in a whisper or screamed at
the top of our lungs, the Truth remains the same. I will agree to some
extent we have planned for battle in the past. I believe we can do a
much better job of planning for the ongoing struggle against the Social
Justice Engineers.”

The Holy Man then swung his gaze upon two ladies in particular. “Laqendi
and Sister Erin, I would like to speak to both of you together after
dinner.”