>>5359790>>5359691>>5359660>>5359596>>5359581>>5359554>>5359907>>5359920>>5360013>>5360019You are still formulating and mentally-rehearsing your planned speech when the Chaplain speaks, denying you your proactive defence of your extended journey.
“When you departed, it was with the understanding of a two-week journey in each direction, at most. Some additional time was expected to deal with the kobolds… Yet, do you realize it has been over TWELVE weeks, since your departure?”
You nod slowly, doing a quick tally in your mind. So much has happened that you didn’t even consciously realize how long you had been away from home.
“You return with only a single kobold,” the Chaplain continues, “and with only two of the fourteen members of the Master Race with whom you departed…”
“…And with dwarves,” you finish, drawing a glare as you pre-empt the Serpent Priest’s speech.
“Yes,” he hisses, “and with dwarves. Explain yourself, Dragonborn! What happened? What is the status of the heretical uprising in Bloodrise? Of the CONSPIRACY?”
“We achieved victory, in spite of challenges,” you begin carefully, avoiding any direct acknowledgement of wrongdoing. “And in spite of… Losses.”
The Chaplain’s eyes bug slightly, and he draws a sharp breath.
“VERY few losses,” you hasten to add. “Only the Infiltrator, Paeris, and a host of mammalian allies.”
The Chaplain stares, saying nothing for a moment.
“Mammalian… Allies? Who, like these dwarves, presumably know of our existence? Our Conspiracy?”
“I… Have not gone into any great detail with the dark elves or the… The bugbears… As far as matters of the Conspiracy go.”
The Chaplain’s tail lashes the stone and he rears his head atop his long, serpentine neck.”
“You have EXPOSED us to elves and to, to…. What is a BUGBEAR, Dragonborn?”
“A sort of… Spiny goblin-man, Holy One,” you explain. “They, like the dark elves, dwell in the underdark. They have only hostile relations with any surface race, and as such they presented a unique opportunity for a low-risk alliance.”
“According to our scouts’ and intelligencers’ estimates, there were perhaps forty to fifty adult kobolds in the Bloodrise mountain range, at most,” the Chaplain says levelly. “Fifty or fewer easily-cowed slaves. You required an alliance—an UNAUTHORIZED, UNVETTED alliance with two races of inferior mammals to deal with this? In spite of your power? In plus of your two-dozen hand-picked specialists?”
“No, we had the kobolds in-hand without outside aid,” you admit. “The alliance was more useful for… The dwarves.”
