>>5332212>>5332196>>5332178>>5332143>>5332136>>5332062>>5332039>>5332038>>5331927>>5331919>>5331918There are a lot of things you’d LIKE to do before you leave, but actually DOING them… Well, that is where the difficulty lies. A speech for the Drow—to commemorate this grand alliance, to build excitement for the coming conflict against the dwarves, to further preach the virtuous True Faith of the Dark Gods—that would be a grand thing, yes. But do you understand enough of their tongue? DO most of these warriors understand YOURS? Would it carry the same impact with the Translator or Elf-Specialist serving as intermediary?
And Glowie… Wherever she is… Well, you don’t wish to engender any troublesome grudges. You honestly feel a little odd—‘supoptimal’, as the Novice would say—about how you left things between the two of you. But what would you even say? What does a pregnant bug-monster want to HEAR from the Reptilian she… ‘Loves’? No, maybe some space and solitude would be best for the both of you… At least until after this great conflict is attended to, and she is done her own ‘work’ of transformation and egg-laying.
You trade a fraction of your accumulated hoard for that deep, blood-red mushroom-wine, instead. It is a heady cocktail, and a unique export. While you cannot stomach much, it DOES produce an interesting effect… And more importantly, you know well the effects of such soporific beverages upon mammals, and how the liquid can serve as a social and diplomatic lubricant. This could prove useful for winning over those mysterious spiky scavengers!
The Drow, more in need of actual goods than precious metals, drive a hard bargain in the exchange for their wine. You part with more of your hoard than you would have expected, and more than you’d like, but your holdings remain tremendous to such a degree that you are able to tamp down your instinctive greed. You instead rationalize it as another cost of diplomacy—a way to demonstrate the tangible rewards of cooperation with your race.
