I wouldn’t say it was a total success. Everyone saw me beat a guy’s face for a while, but, judging by the responses from the more mild people, they didn’t think I went overboard. It was really hard to hold back, especially at the end. He sucker punched me after losing a duel. Seriously, who the hell does that? Then I had to lie about what I thought about him, directly to his bleeding face. I guess it’s easier to do that when your face is also bleeding. Fortunately, he couldn’t just ignore words from the guy who beat him twice, so when he got up, looking completely healed, he nodded at me and went to grab Rav.

Hopefully they work it out.

It took a bit of time to get us both healed up, and once the show was over, nobody was inclined to watch us sit there. That made slightly more work for me, as I had to run around and gather everyone up so we could talk about the future of the group and not about the mysterious absence of Nate. Marie and Tom were a little reluctant to join because apparently Nate had told them to work on defenses, but I managed to convince them that this meeting was about that and they needed to be involved.

A feat that, honestly, would have been impossible if Nate still held sway over them. They’re probably still going through the motions at this point, and it’ll be a while before they totally regain their individuality…

I wish I could tell them he’s a manipulating, and dead, bastard, but… I refuse to believe they would accept me afterwards. I need them, at least until we can establish a town. If they want to ostracize me then, I’ll take it. I’m more interested in pursuing these quests than being part of a town, but it seems like most of the group would love nothing more than to settle in. Our goals align, for the moment.

“It doesn’t seem like anyone knows where Nate is for now,” I address the small group in front of me, “but we can’t sit around idle until he gets back. We need to put together an idea of how we’re going to take on the monster camp.

I know, they are many and dangerous, but we can’t live peacefully without first defeating them. We can’t start our town until that threat is gone. To that end, I propose two things: first, we fortify The Barrows to the point of being impenetrable, even to their numbers. Second, those who are willing will train for combat and haul materials for constructing the aforementioned fortifications. By the time the enemy discovers us, we will be a small fighting force of unparalleled skill, with potions, weapons, armor, and fortifications to increase our ability beyond any reasonable measure.

And we will live. We will not succumb.”

The silence afterwards is almost deafening. I… don’t really do speeches, maybe this was a bad idea-

A few heads nod, silently. Lynn pipes up: ~”How will we train? We will stagnate if all we do is fight with each other and practice alone. Even with your healing to prevent accidents from having a lasting impact, we would require combat, and fighting the Carnine forces is hardly training.”

I incline my head to her, slightly. “Good point. The Shades that invade each night and fending off any Carnine ambushes should serve to keep giving us real combat experience to temper what we learn in practice. As to the practice part, I would like you all to meet with Zathis, the giant in the back of our home. He’s- yes, I understand your concerns, but- listen, he’s the one who trained me in the use of a greatsword, ok? I got that good after a few hours of training with him. It’s gruelling work, but you’ll improve by leaps and bounds. You’ll see why. Those of you who want to be a part of the offensive force, let me know. The rest will help with either gathering people from the surrounding area and trying to convince them to join us, or with the fortification process.”

I look expectantly at the group. “Anyone who has thoughts or ideas, please share them.”

It’s like… school, when the teacher asks an open question, but there’s no smartass in the class who answers everything. I don’t even get an awkward pity cough. They… might be a bit too used to following orders. I’ll have to figure something out, because I don’t plan on sticking around here forever. Somebody (who can’t mind control) will lead, or we’ll get a council going, or something. It works for now because we have so few people and we’re focussed on combat and defense over infrastructure, but… it’s something to note for the future.

I dismiss the meeting, and people start to wander off, either back to what they were doing, or waiting on me for more guidance. Lauren, Lynn, and Tom come up to me after the others have dispersed. I inform them a bit about Zathis’ training process and promise to guide them over soon, so they wouldn’t get stuck on traps. Lauren, in an uncharacteristically helpful move, declares that she isn’t going to bother waiting while I ‘put on my prom dress’ and yells at the others to follow her. Tom starts to follow, but I pull him aside instead.

“I know you want to be part of offense, but we’re going to need some actual armor and weapons for people who don’t have it. Is that something you can handle?”

Tom smiles weakly in response. >“I would love to, but a while back my Apprentice’s Stone went missing. I haven’t been able to find it, and Lauren won’t let me use hers… I need it in order to craft things. I’d also need a place to craft things, like one of the side rooms that we don’t really use... but without the stone, I’m not able to forge anything. I’ve been mostly just… hitting things. I figure I’d be most useful fighting.”

I frown slightly. I don’t really want to do this, but it makes more sense than not. Curse my greed.

“I think I can help you on the ‘Apprentice’s Stone’ front, but wouldn’t it be dangerous, with all the smoke, to run a fire in here? I was thinking we could build something outside-”

He shakes his head. >”Fortunately, the magic that makes those stones work doesn’t use Oxygen or create smoke. It seems to be just heat, with an image of fire plastered onto it. The function is the same.”

“Well… that’s perfect, actually. Oddly convenient, considering… never mind. You can use my stone for now. I can always borrow Lauren’s if I need a new potion. Can you do me a favor and repair Dean’s sword as well? It got a bit beaten up.”

Tom stares down at the talisman I handed him like I just carelessly dumped gold into his palm.

>”How did… where… thank you! Haha! Thank you so much! Of course, anything you need, just let me know! Hah yes!”

His genuine happiness does a lot to mitigate my unhappiness at parting with the stone that I had wanted so much, but it needs to be done. The group needs equipment.

I nod in response to his enthusiasm, with a genuine smile on my face.

He hurries off, intent on getting started as soon as possible.

Good, now I can go find Rav and Dean and fill them in on their parts. Nobody seemed particularly keen on being an envoy to the surviving humans, but I know a guy who… well, he’s not the perfect person for the job, but he’s the best we have.