Tears of Mirrormere RPG

[Groin Redbeard]

The council was silent. A mutual uneasiness could be sensed among the members. As Tror turned to each of them the reality struck him. Balin would have his councilors make up a plan first and then the lord would critic the plan until it fit closely to his agenda. Tror could feel a fit of anger coming on him. He impatiently began to tap his ring, which signified his authority in Balin’s realm, on the stone table.

Are all nobles this pathetic? Can’t they see that I am not Balin. Why then do they think that I should act in accordance to his character? Why must I wait for their slow minds to create a plan when I have one already thought out? A moment ago I was getting chastised for not acting swiftly enough and now, it seems, they think I am acting hastily. The only one in here that is of my like mind is Frar, and even he will not speak.

Tror’s tapping got faster with impatience. He finally took the initiative.

“Kénan, you spoke out against me earlier. Therefore, I ask you to make plain your worries so that we may take into account whatever adjustments you make open to us. Be honest, the lives of my soldiers depend on faultlessness of our plan.”

[Folwren]

Kénan’s attention snapped to Trór. He heard his question - his order - and for a pause that dragged into a long moment of silence, Kénan sat and thought. And then he rose and bowed his head slightly in Trór’s direction.

“With all due respect, sir,” he said, his voice subdued compared to what it had been previously. “My worry is nothing less than the wasted loss of life. I fear rashness. I do not blame you, Trór, for your lust for battle, but you must not let your...ambition for revenge blind you. What I meant earlier was only that we can not have the element of surprise at all. They know we are here, and that is why they came.

“I suggest that we do not attempt to meet these orcs on their own terms. Our strength is in our home - within our city. There have been times in the past when no one could thwart or overcome an army who stood within our gates. And I suggest that we go no further searching for victory.

“Never mind where the orcs are now. Let them come to us! Let us choose the place of battle! Close the gates, and let us fight them in our own time. Let them fight and die on the very steps of our doors, and let’s pile their dead carcasses before our gates, as they piled ours in that bitter day of the Battle of Azanulbizar. And once more we will come out the victor!”