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Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 3625676" data-attributes="member: 11">InterSession #8.4 – ‘Denouement & Decampment: “Aboard the Silver Milk”Teflem, the 6th of Ter – 566 H.E. (637 M.Y.)Tim and Markos sat below decks in their tiny cabin on the Silver Milk, betting iron pieces in a rather dull head-to-head game of <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Games+and+Sports+of+Aquerra" target="_blank">bluff & draw</a>. The ship rocked slowly as it progressed northward.  Telémahkos was atop getting some fresh air and avoiding their cramped quarters for a while.  He was also avoiding Markos after a failed attempt at some kind of conciliation when they first came aboard the day before. (1)"So, did anyone ever figure out what was up with that Vanthus Vanderboren guy?" Timotheus tossed a couple of coins into the pot. "Like, what the deal was with that map with the stuff about the 'Ivory Pearl'?" Markos was bored. "No… I do not think anyone did but I plan to look into it in <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Moon+City" target="_blank">Moon City</a>." "Huh. You know, I've been to <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Azure" target="_blank">Azure</a> lots of times, but I never got around to crossing the water to Moon City. I hear it's pretty impressive." He pushed another coin into the meager pot. "Raise you one." "It will cost a lot of coin to be thorough," Markos ignored the small talk regarding the City of Sorcerers. "Eh, it's no big deal. I'm not sure I want to get wrapped up in some other magic pearl hunt anyway, especially if it's just going to lead to more smugglywugs somewhere far away. We've got lots of better things we can do much closer to home, like the hobbos and the King Stones. Fold, raise or call, Markos,” Timotheus shrugged.Markos said, "You left out "bluff." He then raised. "If this pearl is anything like the black pearl we should probably at least look into it. Even if we take some time before acting." "Sure, as long as you magic men can make sure that we don't get turned into smugglywugs like those poor bastards at the Cove. I got no problem with stuff I can fight, but being turned into some creepy mindless frog-thing isn't high on my list of things to do this year." Tim called Markos' raise and flipped his cards over. "Pair of rogues. What do you got?" Markos threw in his cards without showing them, "You're lucky you're playing with an honest mage. Avoiding being turned into anything is exactly why some research would be nice. Perhaps you could ask the rest about contributing funds to compensate me? I estimate a hundred to one twenty-five per day would be needed. Can't say how long would be needed so should probably just come up with a number of days we would stop at, though I suppose taking it one day at a time would be ok.” Tim rakes in the pot, shuffles and deals. "That's a sh*te-load of money, sailor boy. I say we hold off on that until after the King Stones. We make a decent sized haul there; maybe we can look into funding your anti-Ivory-Pearl research. But me, I'd rather sink our purse into doing some real, for-certain and good for folks close to home. Not on going on some wild goat chase for some magic doodad that may not even exist. Ante up." "I'm inclined to agree but I would like to get as much input from the others as possible. The only counter argument I can make is that I will have access to resources I may not have access to at a later time unless we are in Moon City's vicinity again. I raise in the dark…" Markos put his cards down and then looked at them again and sighed. "I cal…" Tim peered at his cards. "I wouldn't worry about that. Moon City's pretty central, especially if we come back up to <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Schiereiland" target="_blank">Schiereiland</a> again. It's right on the way. And you know I still want to come back up and clear the hobbos out as soon as we raise the cash for troops. Raise you one." "Yes, yes very reasonable. We should allow others their say, however." He flipped the next card over and then looked at his cards again before saying, "Raise you…uh…fifteen…" He looked Timotheus directly in the eye waiting. Tim rolled his eyes. "No sh*t, sailor-boy. Fold." He tossed his cards in. "Course everyone gets their say. We all agreed to that, right? I just hope we can work it out with everyone one-on-one first, because you know what any kind of group discussion with this bunch turns out like. That's the problem with not having a leader, everyone's gotta stick their own oar in and we waste five hours arguing over sh*t that ought to take two minutes." Markos appeared to be grinding his teeth, biting back on the sharp answer he would have liked to spit at Tim. Instead, he sighed and replied calmly, "I guess I simply meant to suggest we drop it until the others were present. I think we are in agreement though I could easily be swayed given what Lavinia told T.K. she heard." He quietly gathered and piled the cards before handing them to Timotheus for his turn at dealing. "As for the problems of not having a leader, I've been trying to push you to take a more aggressive hand in that - especially when violence erupts. I have some very basic ideas on what to do in a fight - just common sense things really - but you're going to have a better feel for things when the decisions need to be made quickly, I think, given your experience." Tim shuffled. "Thanks, Dad… Next time we storm a villa full of frog monsters, I hope you're there to make sure I can actually lead." He raised a hand to forestall Markos' reaction. "Sorry… I'm sure you're trying to help. But it's not me you need to push. I can lead men just fine if they've agreed to be led. But we got a bunch of snobby nobles here who signed a charter saying that everyone gets a vote. I'm doing what I can to keep on top of things in battle, but until they actually agree to follow me, the best thing is probably just to take it slow and hope they get used to it. Markos raised an eyebrow at being called "Dad" but did not interrupt. When Tim finished he cleared his throat, "Just push a little harder than you have been, alright? We had one battle where we coordinated our actions well and it was mostly due to our discussing things ahead of time… You didn't have to give many ‘orders’ as a result. Just a reminder to everyone to mind fields of vision and dart in and out, giving archers and such opportunities to time their shots effectively.” Timotheus began to deal the cards, as he replied. "Think about it. If I push too hard, who knows what they'll do? The last thing we need is them calling votes in the middle of a fight, or worse, they decide that if they gotta have a leader, they'd rather have Pukey the Golden Boy or Little Miss Never-Surrender, instead of a jumped-up guardsman who's got nothing to offer <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Aristocrats" target="_blank">aristocrats</a> except something as useless as ten years of experience."Markos grunted and looked up. “By the by, I'm trying hard to control my anger and keep my displeasure with certain members of our group to myself - your being an assh0le because I think the group needs your direction and say so doesn't help.""Aww, everyone's so mean to poor Markos, after he's been so nice to everyone." Tim chuckled, accentuating the words with an infantile sing-song teasing style.  He did not look up from his hand. "We all know you're a big brain, and like I said, I know you're trying to help. But no one likes a know-it-all. Especially one who's… what…? All of fifteen? I think you need a beard before you can pull off the 'master of all knowledge' routine." Tim made an attempt at a comical 'elderly sage stroking his beard' face, as he looked at Markos.Markos' face hardened, looking away he said with angry wonder in his voice, "I'm a know-it-all and putting on airs of the wizened wizard because I've made some suggestions?" He refocused on Timotheus, the creases of his face deepened with anger. "And I was speaking of you, you f*cking prick! Not ‘everyone’. I expect the others to act as they do, and sure as there is whale sh*t in the ocean I don't feel sorry for myself for it. I know who they are and I know how I am… You, however, I didn't expect to be such a f*cking assh0le. And I may be a f*cking kid, but I've seen just as much sh*t in this world as you! If I have a gods damn idea I'm going to say it! And if you were smart," he stood up from the floor where they were playing. "…you would judge the f*cking idea and not who f*cking gave it!" He looked down from his standing position for a few moments, breathing heavily but then sat down abruptly, spitting out with disgust, "Just f*cking deal the cards… I'll leave you to your own council.""Gosh, silly me," Tim replied mildly. "I sure am the assh0le. After all, I yelled at you, told you how to do your job, and threatened to punch you in the face. (2) Oh no, wait, that was you talking to me." Tim set his cards down on the floor.  “What I did now was listen, and give my own opinion in a having-a-discussion kind of way, and thank you for trying to help. Okay, maybe I teased you a little bit. And boom, here you are, throwing a tantrum. I don't really mind, I've seen lots of 'em before from my sisters when they were little. But it really is pretty childish, no matter how much sh*t you've seen.”"So, how many cards you gonna discard?" He added after a moment, holding the deck in his hands.Markos looked disgusted, "Just give me three cards you condescending prick."Timotheus slid the cards over with a wry smile. "Sure thing. Here you go, little cousin."End of InterSession #8.4------------------------------------------------Notes:(1)    This was one of a handful of InterSession scenes that did not make it the story hour.  As much as I would like to be able to say that it’d be great to include all of them, that is just not the case.  Just imagine your typical Telémahkos/Markos interaction, perhaps with a misinterpreted apology in there, and that was basically it.  No need to beat a dead horse or anything…(2) This occurred during the parley with Harliss Javell.  While the story hour did not cover it at the time, it later became a point of contention.  Basically, when Telémahkos and Markos were arguing over Markos’ laughter upon hearing that Harliss had sent the bullywugs to the Vanderboren Manse, Timotheus tried to break it up, and Markos threatened to punch him in the face for his trouble.</blockquote>

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