Sadly, a proper thanksgiving for Valdis's return will have to wait, as we have more enemies to face tomorrow, and that means preparing for the coming battle. It is not the first time the duty of one of us or the other has meant putting off each other, and I imagine it won't be the last. Such is the nature of serving Hel, and the gods know that I married Hel right alongside Valdis, and never had any illusions otherwise. Angr-Boda, for her part, asks less often. When she does, though, ignoring her is never an option.
I'm pleased to say that this new group that the gods sent us here to find seems to be reasonably competent. They fought well. There were a handful of questionable tactical decisions, such as Tupper's refusal to fire his weapon for a bit, and of coure the monk's leaving the bubble to fight a wizard. That second, I think, is at least understandable; he thought it would be a quick fight, that he could take care of a potential threat easily. I suppose he could not have foreseen that it would become the ordeal which it was.
There is one thing which concerns me, which is the surprise which my companions seem to have in regards to their level of competence. Things so simple as their forming a shield wall to protect myself and the bard seem to cause them a concerning amount of surprise, and a question as simple as "who is your leader in battle?" led to a great deal of discussion.
I wonder that their gods have been allowing them to get away with this.
I also wonder, for a group that is here almost entirely at the behest of their gods, what Tupper's motives are. The god which wants him here is one which he flings insults at, ignores his dictums, and he insists that this god is stalking him and the Tupper wants nothing to do with him.
But if he reviles this god so, what then are his motives? This is not the sort of quest one takes for material reward. It's not the sort of thing one undertakes to be safe, or to stay out of battle, or anything else. This is war, and it's war that we can only win with the full support of our gods. But if we do not support our gods, how can we expect their support?
I wonder that he might be some sort of foul trick from our enemies, a supposed "ally" put here to try and separate us from the loyalty of our god, to pretend competence only as often as is needed to keep the others from sending him home, while trying to tear apart this group with useless bickering.
Consider: tomorrow we will travel through the portal back to the other aboleth, the golems, etc. We do not believe that this aboleth knows that we're coming after him. Travelling through the portal, one of two things will occur: either we will surprise them and catch them unawares, or they will spring a trap on us, for which we will be mentally and magically prepared.
Instead of this, he tried to convince us that we should go somewhere else, follow a thin thread which might lead us to another way back to the island, and therefor make certain that this Seneschal person knows we're coming and is ready for our attack. It is, at best, a nitpick of an argument: do we take one portal which they expect us to come through, or another? (For to believe that they can't anticipate any teleportation of ours would be foolish.)
At worst, it's the most devious kind of trap, the kind that looks like helping, like discussion, while halting useful discussion and driving the part apart.
I will have to keep an eye on him. This is precisely the sort of threat which Paladins have issues with, as they cannot ever truly say that they've been attacked, that he's a worthy enemy.
Which is why those such as them need those such as I. Because keeping Paladins alive, sometimes, requires acts which they could not condone.
My eyes will be open.
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