Rose,Originally Posted by Tamamo
As you dream, you find yourself walking through a forest. You see a man. He is vaguely familiar but you cannot recognize his face. He is far ahead of you, barely a shadow in the dusk of the trees. As you run, your boots clog up with mud, forbidding you to keep pace with the man.
You try to focus on him and get a better view. He is a not a stranger, but rather a phantom from your past. As far as you can tell, the figure is that of your father.
As you stare at him you note that the silhouette is twisting, reshaping, until he takes the form of Wallace the chef. It's odd how a simple act of kindness can place someone in a family role.
You try to reach him, but you cannot keep pace. Looking down, you see that it is not mud which is globbing up on your boots, but clotting blood. It draws you down in a vortex. You reach out to Wallace but he continues onward into the woods, until his silhouette merges with the darkness.
As the pool of blood envelops you you jolt awake, terrified.
Sancireph,
You quickly assess the battlefield. There are roughly fifteen frogmen in sight, approaching slowly and utilizing the ruined ship scrap as cover. They look like a scouting party; no doubt they noticed the arrival of the Katrien's Glory in the grotto the previous day and they are assessing the threat.
A show of force may be more effective than a slaughter here... it would convince them you are a threat and might make them more cautious in the future. ...Or, they'll decide you're too dangerous a rival and send a massive attack force next time.
You note that each is wielding roughly identical equipment. They are unarmored, wearing only sailors clothes they likely scavenged from other ships. It's also unlikely they have any magical force to speak of, as you'd suspect a wizard would dress differently from the others. There's something about magic users that draws them to gaudy blue moons, after all. Zataka makes a good point, though. They could very easily have more forces hiding below the surface of the water.
So... a demonstration or a slaughter? Which would be the better approach?
