"Ah, that was a grand meal," Templar bellowed after releasing a great deal of gas in a loud belch. "One could say that it was a meal fit for a king, except that we can scarcely claim to have deserved it, can we?" Mason rose with a loud sigh and said, "Excuse me, gentlemen. I have business to attend to." He walked a few feet away from the campfire.
"I think we need to get back to discussing our strategy here," Phil broke in.
"Right," Danny said. "Sam, we're going to need your h--"
"OHHHHHHH, YES!"
Sam shot Danny a "what the fuck?" look and said, "Uh, yeah... well, there's the living, and there's the dead, of course, not to mention the--"
"OHHH, GOD, THAT WAS A GOOD SHIT!"
The group around the campfire shuddered collectively, and Danny said, "Anyways..."
Mason Templar then came back around the campfire and plopped himself down on a log. He held something steaming in his hand. "Now that was a right good shit. I haven't had a bowel movement that satisfying in decades. The feeling I had when dropping that fecal matter was akin to a religious experience, it was so good."
"Dammit, Mason," Danny said, "must you go on about that?"
"Oh, I'm so very sorry, young Master Daniel!" Templar bellowed sarcastically. "I wouldn't want to interrupt your little tea party. I didn't realise you were all a bunch of bleeding fairies too bashful to discuss the pleasantries of a bowel movement. Let me remove myself from your company, as I'm obviously too blunt and caustic for such delicate ears..."
"Let's get back to strategising," Phil growled.
"Ah-ha, it's finally come to that, has it?" Templar said. "Strategy is a last resort with this little organisation, isn't it?"
Danny said, "If you have something to say, Templar, just say it. We're all ears."
Mason Templar was still holding the steaming pile of shit in his ungloved hand. "Look at this pile of shit, smell its aroma. There's something very satisfying about the smell of shit, isn't there? A person's own defecate is somehow pleasing to him; it is a kind of primal response to find satisfaction from sniffing one's own shit."
"Is this going somewhere?" asked Adem.
"It's a good thing you asked that question, Mr. Different, or whatever your true name is on Mars, or whatever planet you come from. I was getting to my point. As I was saying, there's something very satisfying about shit, a satisfaction which goes back to the beginning of time. Most animals mark their territory with their shit, and everyone leaves small parts of himself behind when he defecates. But in the end, it's just shit."
Mason threw the pile of shit into the campfire, which promptly began to stink as it began to steam and burn. Before anyone could start complaining, he wiped his hand on the grass next to him and continued, "Likewise, a good battle is one of the most satisfying things in the world for men like us, particularly when it has been too long for some of us since our last battle, eh, Daniel? In the end, though, if battle doesn't serve a strategic purpose, it's as futile as squirming around in quicksand. It's just shit."
Dan shook his head. "Look, Mason, if you have something to say to me, just say it. Enough of this pussyfooting around the issue."
"Oho, yes. Yes, I was getting to it," said Templar. "Now, since we've been here we have managed to engage ourselves in pointless battles which resulted in the death of our newest member and almost resulted something much worse: Our plans thwarted before they ever had a chance to begin. We've been running around like chickens with our heads cut off since we arrived, merely reacting to whatever is thrown in our way, battling courageously but futilely for a cause we know nothing of. Now, Daniel, we are all of us aware of your natural leadership abilities, and we applaud and support you as our chosen leader."
"Thank you."
"However... you are untrained and inexperienced. You have never led a campaign against an army before, but have merely led small skirmishes which rarely became very dangerous. It is notable that you were absent during the Antarctica campaign, but we cannot fault you for that, nor will I try. Suffice it to say that you are a very green leader, green being used in this context as inexperienced. You are a boy. A talented boy, yes, but a mere boy without enough experience to lead a worldwide revolution on this planet."
Danny rose one eyebrow. "And you think you can do a better job, I suppose?"
"Oh ho ho ho!" Templar laughed. "No, don't worry, young Daniel -- I'm not trying to take over your position. Far from it. I do have a great deal of experience in leading an army to war, however, and you would benefit from my experience, and I am offering my services as your advisor in that regard. Let my experience in leading several armies to battle in the past work in the present."
"Fine," Danny said, waving his hands in the air out of frustration. "What do you suggest, Mason?"
"We know nothing of this world except what Mr. Dawson has told us, and he was sheltered from the realities of this land. Thus his story lacks a great deal of information which we require if we are to 'free' this world from domination, whatever the hell that means."
Mason Templar reached behind him and tossed a large sack in front of him. "While I was out hunting up our dinner tonight, gentlemen, I chanced to come across a small peasant village and stopped by a tavern to pick up our mead as well as several necessary supplies in exchange for game. While I was in there, I decided to find out for myself what the situation is by hearing the talk of the peasants and their village elders. Well, it turns out that the situation on this world is much more complicated than we at first thought. The economy of this land has been built upon the backs of slaves, going back hundreds of years. Godbolt is their master. Yet, in the past few decades the slaves have begun to revolt, removing themselves from the occultic hold that dread wizard had on them. And they have begun to fight the living in order to gain freedom for themselves."
"I have heard something similar myself, recently," said the Raptor, who just arrived back at the campfire after an evening flight. "A graveyard was desecrated not far from here."
"Ah yes, yes. The great necropolises, or cities of the dead, have been ransacked by Lord Godbolt in search of slaves. Yes, you are hearing me correctly -- the dead have been resurrected in order to be enslaved, and the ones who have rebelled against Lord Godbolt are seen as the enemy. It is the rebellious dead slaves who Mr. Dawson was sent to fight against, yet they are NOT in the wrong. They require freedom from their mortal coils once more, freedom from this dark necromancy which has brought them back to a kind of un-life.
"Suffice it to say, Daniel -- we need more information before we can take another step. I propose that we split into groups of two or three in order to find out more about this land, about this world we have found ourselves on. As sad as I am to say this, we cannot risk any further battles until we have discovered for ourselves exactly who is our enemy or enemies here and what their capabilities are, and we must -- we MUST -- find for ourselves allies on this world. We must win the hearts and minds of the people if we are ever to free them from the clutches of Lord Godbolt and anyone else who preys upon the living and the dead for their own gain. And to do this we need time. Days, weeks, or even months, if necessary. Time to explore, time to learn about the people and find trustworthy allies from among them, both the living and the dead -- I hope that Grimm can be of some use amongst the latter -- for we will need an army of the people if we expect to help them to free themselves. What good will it do if we topple their masters without involving them in the process? It will only result in another tyrant or tyrants stepping in to take over. Trust me -- I've seen it happen far too many times in my lifetime to want to see it happen again."
Templar rose from his place at the fire again and began to walk over to Erasmus. "I shall leave it to the rest of you to do with what you will, then. But a decision must be made. We cannot continue as we have been doing if we expect to accomplish anything."
