"Good job everyone," Kyrsa says. She puts a hand to her head, and looks around for the guard who dealt her all that damage. If she finds him, she will complement him on his swordsmanship and say, "I don't think this would have gone quite so well had Tamryn not pulled that trick on you. It was a little unfair looking back on it, I'm not sure what we would have done if we were out in the field at that point."
Once she is done speaking with the guard, she will follow the rest of the group. As she follows them, her skin changes from blue to pale green, and her white hair changes to a deep emerald color. Once the change is complete, she has a bit more of a spring to her step.
Now that Kyrsa gets a closer look, the human guard is actually quite young, no more than twenty. He blushes bright red when she talks to him, and stammers, "Th-Th-Thank you ma'am. Just doin' my part to help out!" Overhearing the exchange, Aldara approaches, puts her arm around the young man's shoulders and ruffles his hair. "This is Anton. He's probably never had a beautiful woman compliment him before," she teases. "Anton's father was a good friend of mine, and taught him a lot about swinging a blade. He's not bad... for a knucklehead!" She playfully punches him in the shoulder and he looks mortified and excuses himself rapidly. As he walks away, Aldara once again has a fleeting moment of sorrow cross her countenance, then disappear.
Later, in the chow line, you recognize Larry and Gordo as two of the cooks, and the tiefling woman and the dwarf are the camp's horse-wranglers, in charge of mounts and stables. You didn't meet two of the agents inside the demiplane, but apparently they were also some of the staff members of the Farm. Only the blue Dragonborn female sits at the instructors' table with Aldara.
Kyrsa chuckles a little as Anton hurries on his way, and gives a knowing look to Aldara. She wonders what sort of memories brought about that look of sadness, but does not ask. As Kyrsa moves to follow the rest of the group to claim her meal, she pushes aside her own memories of loss and death. Anton reminds her of someone she used to know, someone no longer alive. She pushes these things aside as she dawns the spring season, hoping to improve her own mood.
Akyan is slightly confused, he had assumed that they would have to escape the building with the box. Shrugging, he steps through the portal, then goes to find something to eat.
(That was actually my original plan, too, but it seemed like by that point it was anticlimactic to make it drag on.)
(Lol, that's a good point.
Also, did Akyan have to walk by the stables to get to the mess hall or wherever they are going to eat?)
Lyndaran seems confused when the confetti explodes but says nothing. He simply nods to the others and hope that, after the few hours of rest and eating this ga start to be more clear to him. He takes a bath and cleans himself up before going to the mess hall for some cheese and nuts to eat.
Also, did Akyan have to walk by the stables to get to the mess hall or wherever they are going to eat?)
The stables are actually situated on the opposite side of the Farm courtyard from the mess hall, for olfactory reasons. However, Akyan has plenty of time to wander over there in the two hour break.
(Not to rush anyone, take your time to RP, explore. When ready to move on:)
The team gathers in the classroom. Brother Cephas is nowhere to be seen, and you suppose he is probably meditating or napping again. You seat yourselves on comfortable cushions on the floor in a rough circle, and Aldara and Breezy stand at one end.
The ranger begins, "So.... there was good and bad, although mostly bad. Sorry to be blunt, but we don't have a lot of time to waste getting you ready for actual field work. I accept blame for not having adequately prepared you for this first exercise, especially you, Lyndaran, you were just thrown in there with little preparation. The point of today's mission was not the same as the objective of the mission. What I mean by that was, the objective was the black box, but the point was to learn one another's strengths and weaknesses and to learn to work together as a cohesive unit. I fear I was not entirely clear about that, and so you focused on the goal, rather than on the journey to the goal. No matter, we have 9 more days to work on that."
(In Faerun, a week is actually a "tenday"- three tendays make a month.)
Breezy pipes up, "Well, I think you did pretty well for your first time. Especially as not all of you were trained in covert ops prior to joining us. And this was pretty obviously an artificial scenario, which can sometimes be difficult to really fully lean into, at this stage of your training. The irony of training: when we have time to do it, we don't appreciate it. When we don't have the time, we wish we could do more of it."
Aldara continues, "So. I have a list of things to discuss, but first, tell me your thoughts. What went well? What needs improvement? The ultimate goal here is to emerge a formidable team capable of infiltrating, extracting, disrupting and occasionally assassinating people and organizations that are harming society. And, you know, not get killed or captured in the process. How do we get there from here, in your eyes? Obviously, we have a plan and a curriculum, but I'm seeking your thoughts and input here."
Also, did Akyan have to walk by the stables to get to the mess hall or wherever they are going to eat?)
The stables are actually situated on the opposite side of the Farm courtyard from the mess hall, for olfactory reasons. However, Akyan has plenty of time to wander over there in the two hour break.
Akyan grabs his food and sits down at an empty table. Head filled with everything that went wrong in the mission, he runs through it over and over. Thinking about where he and the others could have done better. He is a bit surprised when a green elf walks into the room, however he quickly realizes that it is just Kyrsa. "I had no idea that there were elves that could change their appearance." He thinks.
Tamryn is unusually quiet after the party returns to the Farm, seemingly deep in thought. Upon their return, whenever he sees one of the antagonists that they encountered in the exercise, he goes out of his way to thank them for their participation, finds something in what they did to compliment them on, and generally tries to smooth over any possible hurt feelings or misunderstandings. He also takes the time to find Kyrsa, and he apologizes to her, saying, "Near the end of the exercise, I got so focused on the stated goal that I lost track of what was happening to my compatriots. You shouldn't have had to lay there suffering on the ground while we searched for some stupid box. I apologize for forgetting that the thing of true value is our friendship and the ability to trust each other. It won't happen again."
Tamryn rests for a bit before the debrief and eats quickly in the mess hall. He is much more subdued than he was prior to the exercise.
Tamryn listens to the initial back and forth between Aldara and Breezy. When Aldara asks about "What went well?" and "What needs improvement?" he raises his hand to speak. "Speaking for myself, I initially assessed the situation using a set of parameters that were not explicit, but that I assumed applied. These were that we needed to accomplish it as stealthily as possible, with as low a footprint as possible. Obviously, we frequently failed at that. But honestly, I'm not all that concerned about that. We all recognized the need for stealth and for covering our tracks as much as possible. Practice will improve our abilities there. The low point for me, personally, was at the end of the exercise. When Kyrsa was lying on the ground in stress and pain, I looked at a bunch of chests instead of attempting to tend to her or improve her situation. I put the mission ahead of my colleagues. There may be circumstances where that is necessary, but this was obviously not one of them. We have to trust each other and the thought that we might leave each other out to dry will ruin our chances of truly working together. I contributed to that, and for that I am ashamed. As for things we did well, I was very impressed with Jhartael's spellcasting and everyone's fighting prowess. We bested the guards fairly easily. And we did, after all, find the box with a few minutes to spare. But, again speaking for myself, I worry that I am not doing enough to contribute to the team."
Breezy speaks gently to Tamryn. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Somewhere in the back of your mind you knew I wouldn't let any real harm come to her. But it is good that you recognize this as an error which in the 'real world' might have a very different outcome."
Jhaartael gracefully descends onto the cushion, kneeling, sitting on his heels,
He sits placidly like this for a while, seemingly more interested in the way the light angles into the room at this time of day.
He is listening, however, to the debrief and the retrospective thoughts of the members.
Eventually, he poses his own thoughts, although speaking as to no-one in particular.
The blunted arrows and use of trickery rather than lethal means were good.
Communication via telepathy was helpful as we split the party
We need to develop parameters as a team for when to hide, when to deceive, when to fight and when to run.
We succeeded in meeting the goal of the artificial encounter. We had even said that if at least one of us got to the box, we would succeed. While injury of any individual was unfortunate, we knew we would not die, and pain is often the best tutor.
As he eats his food, he looks over his teammates. He needs to get to know Kyrsa, Mina and the new one... Lyndaran was it? He needed to get to know them better. He still isn't sure how he feels towards Jhaartael. The high elf's apology had seemed sincere, but he had given up his dislike for Akyan rather quickly. It would take a bit more time before he could be fully trusted. He liked Tamryn so far. He reminded him of--no dont' think about him.
Once finished with his food, Akyan decides to wander around a bit. In doing so, he ventures close to the stable. He walks through the stalls and examines the animals. How long had it been since he last rode? Longer than he liked, but he couldn't bring himself to go back to the ranch. It brought back too many memories, not to mention the new owner hated him. Shaking the memories from his mind, he nods to the stable hands and the horse wranglers and hurries back to the classroom.
_____________________________________________
Akyan listens to what the others has to say before responding. He feels a stab of guilt when Tamryn explains his thoughts. Akyan had always put the mission before his companions. He'd done so his entire life. Wasn't it better if one was sacrificed if it meant saving thousands? "He sounds like Elran. Elran would never leave anyone behind no matter what." Forcing the painful memories from his mind, he says his piece.
"Unlike some of these people, I have had field experience with this sort of thing. However, I have never done one with so many companions or with a time limit. I let my personal experience cloud my judgement to begin with. I was overconfident in the beginning and I started rushing in blindly towards the end. Towards the end I was starting to get fed up with myself and the entire scenario so I didn't really care how it ended since it was just practice. I was expecting to fail." He sighs, "To be honest, I'm not sure if we would have succeeded if Tamryn hadn't tricked the guard."
"Don't worry about it," she tells Tamryn. "Depending on what was in the box, I might have done the same thing." She hesitates, "Don't take that the wrong way, just...there is a time and place for putting the mission before your team. If this had been a real mission, and our failure meant the loss of innocent lives, I would have willingly died to ensure our success. It all depends on the price of failure. If it is something we would have had a second chance at, then the mission comes second as there is no need to risk any of our lives for it. As it was, I put myself in a position to take damage knowing that the rest of you were more equipped to find the box." She pauses, "Besides, you were where you needed to be in that moment. Lyndaran managed to stabilize me while the rest of you focused on the mission. It would not have improved the situation had both of you stopped to help."
_______________________________________________
Kyrsa listens as Tamryn and Jahaartael give their thoughts. She nods in agreement for the most part, and says once they are finished, "Our main downfall was the inability to communicate as a team. Since we are all new to each other, we should have taken a few moments to map out a general plan before blindly rushing in. We knew enough to attempt stealth in the beginning...which quickly dissolved into chaos. After we were discovered, we should have tried other methods, like what Jahaartael did, to circumvent the guards. Fighting should have been our last resort, we could have opted for a distraction instead once our cover was blown." She pauses, "Tamryn really did save the mission with his trickery, I doubt we would have succeeded without his quick thinking. However, I have to admit that I do not believe it would have worked out in the field. Still, he proved his ability to adapt to the situation and used what he had to get us out of a tight spot, which is an invaluable skill in the field." She nods to Tamryn as she speaks, "I think it would benefit us all to do more simulated missions, perhaps some we have a little more time plan for--at least at first. We need opportunities to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, as well as each other's personalities so we have the ability to predict each other's movements. If we were a team who had been together for longer, perhaps we would have been fine jumping in blindly, because we would know what to expect from each other. Now though, we don't. However, we did improve drastically towards the end, after we managed to regroup. We improved on communication, at least a little. We also managed to put people where they would be most useful: Mina and I took care of the combat while Tamryn and Akyan searched for the box. Forgive me Jahaartael, I do not remember where you were...after I blacked out. Though I do know that when I was down, Lyndaran managed to stabilize me while the others searched...Which brings up a good question. Do any of us have experience in medicine? It would be good to know such things in case of an emergency."
"Aside from that, it would also be good to have some context to the missions. We need to be able to asses the importance and what the price of failure would be. That way we don't make rash decisions when it comes to our own lives or the lives of our comrades. Even if the context is vague, that would still be helpful, as it would allow us practice assessing such things."
Aldara allows herself a small smile. "Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This is exactly what we want, that you take a bit of time after each exercise to reflect and look for areas that need improvement, as well as recognizing your successes. If you discover a tactic that works well, you add it to your playbook for future missions. If something turns out disastrously, that is also a valuable lesson. Assuming you survive."
She continues, "Strengths I noted were adaptability, creative thinking, and good fundamentals in basic combat. Areas to work on include division of responsibilities, planning, and fundamentals of certain skills such as moving quietly and bypassing security.
"Each of you has gifts and talents. Do not be afraid to let your teammates know what you excel at. Remember, it is just as important to cause a distraction which disrupts the defense as to be the one who retrieves the symbolic black box. A little misdirection, a feint here, an illusion there," she nods to Jhaartael in recognition, "can greatly reduce the need for actual combat, which frankly is not your strong suit, and intentionally so. We have Team 2 when we need a frontal assault, or to send a message of strength. In most cases, for your missions it will be preferable if the enemy does not even realize you were present until long after you are gone.
"As a heads-up in case you want to plan anything, tomorrow's mission will be a step up. In a village not far from here, a local 'businessman' has been blackmailing the town sheriff. He has acquired certain embarrassing documents about the sheriff's love life and is threatening to reveal them if the lawman does not abandon an investigation of his business practices. Your mission will be to destroy that evidence with this caveat: No combat, unless your lives are in immediate danger. The blackmailer is corrupt but not violent. We have arranged a cover for you as visiting investors from a distant city, and he will be throwing a party in your honor tomorrow evening. You will attend, unarmed, along with many other civilians who are unaware of your true identities and who are not party to the blackmail. There should be NO casualties or collateral damage. This is a test of your ingenuity. The businessman only knows that you are from a reputable investment house, but you are free to come up with the details of your cover identities.
"The DCL is not for those who seek individual glory. We succeed together or we fail together. I suppose that is all I have for now. Tomorrow morning we will again have physical training at 5 AM, and afterwards I've invited our camp chief of security, to provide a refresher course in certain skills of subtlety. You are dismissed for the evening."
(Again, feel free to discuss, explore, etc. When you are ready, take a long rest, and we will begin day 2)
When dismissed, Jhaartael rises and crosses to the instructors.
"Thank you for your appraisal and advice. I am certain we shall continue to improve."
To Breezy he says, "As I am only recently on the path of the School of Enchantment, I am eager to learn what I can of the use of the arcane in works of subterfuge, confidence, and persuasion. Do you have any books that you would suggest I study?"
Later, in the bunk room, Jhaartael will trance for a few hours, then, once rejuvenated, he will lay open his spell book. Pondering the mission ahead he will consider what spells he might prepare that would be most useful. He decides that all but the most basic defense and offense spells are not needed. He decides to prepare spells to allow him to detect thoughts, render a party member invisible or to influence another's actions by his magical suggestion. He also maintains his spells of illusion and charming as well as one to disguise himself and mentions that he has a few scrolls that do the same should any of the party wish to try to disguise themselves at need.
When the party is preparing in the morning, he will inform them of his changed spells and inquire if any of them have any ideas on how they should dress for the occasion. He also asks if perhaps the team should come up with a few plans and vet them with their instructors while they are still at the Farm.
You may have noticed you are the only one on the team with actual military experience. I am looking to you to be a leader, an organizer, and someone who helps formulate an overall coherent battle plan for each mission. For now, this is informal, as you must still win the trust of your peers. But look for opportunities to build the team's morale, and demonstrate those skills you learned as a squad leader.
When dismissed, Jhaartael rises and crosses to the instructors.
"Thank you for your appraisal and advice. I am certain we shall continue to improve."
To Breezy he says, "As I am only recently on the path of the School of Enchantment, I am eager to learn what I can of the use of the arcane in works of subterfuge, confidence, and persuasion. Do you have any books that you would suggest I study?"
Breezy looks up at Jhaartael and smiles. "Well, my library isn't nearly as extensive as I'd like, but you are free to peruse what I have here on site. Hmm, there is one volume that comes to mind, come with me..."
She leads you to the Administration building and has you wait outside. In a few moments, she returns and hands you a tome entitled Simon Magus' Magickal Manual: How to Win Friends (with Magic) and Influence People.
Now that Kyrsa gets a closer look, the human guard is actually quite young, no more than twenty. He blushes bright red when she talks to him, and stammers, "Th-Th-Thank you ma'am. Just doin' my part to help out!" Overhearing the exchange, Aldara approaches, puts her arm around the young man's shoulders and ruffles his hair. "This is Anton. He's probably never had a beautiful woman compliment him before," she teases. "Anton's father was a good friend of mine, and taught him a lot about swinging a blade. He's not bad... for a knucklehead!" She playfully punches him in the shoulder and he looks mortified and excuses himself rapidly. As he walks away, Aldara once again has a fleeting moment of sorrow cross her countenance, then disappear.
Later, in the chow line, you recognize Larry and Gordo as two of the cooks, and the tiefling woman and the dwarf are the camp's horse-wranglers, in charge of mounts and stables. You didn't meet two of the agents inside the demiplane, but apparently they were also some of the staff members of the Farm. Only the blue Dragonborn female sits at the instructors' table with Aldara.
Kyrsa chuckles a little as Anton hurries on his way, and gives a knowing look to Aldara. She wonders what sort of memories brought about that look of sadness, but does not ask. As Kyrsa moves to follow the rest of the group to claim her meal, she pushes aside her own memories of loss and death. Anton reminds her of someone she used to know, someone no longer alive. She pushes these things aside as she dawns the spring season, hoping to improve her own mood.
(Lol, that's a good point.
Also, did Akyan have to walk by the stables to get to the mess hall or wherever they are going to eat?)
Lyndaran seems confused when the confetti explodes but says nothing. He simply nods to the others and hope that, after the few hours of rest and eating this ga start to be more clear to him.
He takes a bath and cleans himself up before going to the mess hall for some cheese and nuts to eat.
PbP Character: A few ;)
The stables are actually situated on the opposite side of the Farm courtyard from the mess hall, for olfactory reasons. However, Akyan has plenty of time to wander over there in the two hour break.
After a while of calming and collecting his thoughts in meditation, Jhaartael will join the others in the mess.
Eryndor - Red Dead Annihilation | GM - Volo's Trade Franchise - PF2e Adventures set in the Forgotten Realms
(Not to rush anyone, take your time to RP, explore. When ready to move on:)
The team gathers in the classroom. Brother Cephas is nowhere to be seen, and you suppose he is probably meditating or napping again. You seat yourselves on comfortable cushions on the floor in a rough circle, and Aldara and Breezy stand at one end.
The ranger begins, "So.... there was good and bad, although mostly bad. Sorry to be blunt, but we don't have a lot of time to waste getting you ready for actual field work. I accept blame for not having adequately prepared you for this first exercise, especially you, Lyndaran, you were just thrown in there with little preparation. The point of today's mission was not the same as the objective of the mission. What I mean by that was, the objective was the black box, but the point was to learn one another's strengths and weaknesses and to learn to work together as a cohesive unit. I fear I was not entirely clear about that, and so you focused on the goal, rather than on the journey to the goal. No matter, we have 9 more days to work on that."
(In Faerun, a week is actually a "tenday"- three tendays make a month.)
Breezy pipes up, "Well, I think you did pretty well for your first time. Especially as not all of you were trained in covert ops prior to joining us. And this was pretty obviously an artificial scenario, which can sometimes be difficult to really fully lean into, at this stage of your training. The irony of training: when we have time to do it, we don't appreciate it. When we don't have the time, we wish we could do more of it."
Aldara continues, "So. I have a list of things to discuss, but first, tell me your thoughts. What went well? What needs improvement? The ultimate goal here is to emerge a formidable team capable of infiltrating, extracting, disrupting and occasionally assassinating people and organizations that are harming society. And, you know, not get killed or captured in the process. How do we get there from here, in your eyes? Obviously, we have a plan and a curriculum, but I'm seeking your thoughts and input here."
(Ok thanks)
Akyan grabs his food and sits down at an empty table. Head filled with everything that went wrong in the mission, he runs through it over and over. Thinking about where he and the others could have done better. He is a bit surprised when a green elf walks into the room, however he quickly realizes that it is just Kyrsa. "I had no idea that there were elves that could change their appearance." He thinks.
Tamryn is unusually quiet after the party returns to the Farm, seemingly deep in thought. Upon their return, whenever he sees one of the antagonists that they encountered in the exercise, he goes out of his way to thank them for their participation, finds something in what they did to compliment them on, and generally tries to smooth over any possible hurt feelings or misunderstandings. He also takes the time to find Kyrsa, and he apologizes to her, saying, "Near the end of the exercise, I got so focused on the stated goal that I lost track of what was happening to my compatriots. You shouldn't have had to lay there suffering on the ground while we searched for some stupid box. I apologize for forgetting that the thing of true value is our friendship and the ability to trust each other. It won't happen again."
Tamryn rests for a bit before the debrief and eats quickly in the mess hall. He is much more subdued than he was prior to the exercise.
____________________________________________________________
Tamryn listens to the initial back and forth between Aldara and Breezy. When Aldara asks about "What went well?" and "What needs improvement?" he raises his hand to speak. "Speaking for myself, I initially assessed the situation using a set of parameters that were not explicit, but that I assumed applied. These were that we needed to accomplish it as stealthily as possible, with as low a footprint as possible. Obviously, we frequently failed at that. But honestly, I'm not all that concerned about that. We all recognized the need for stealth and for covering our tracks as much as possible. Practice will improve our abilities there. The low point for me, personally, was at the end of the exercise. When Kyrsa was lying on the ground in stress and pain, I looked at a bunch of chests instead of attempting to tend to her or improve her situation. I put the mission ahead of my colleagues. There may be circumstances where that is necessary, but this was obviously not one of them. We have to trust each other and the thought that we might leave each other out to dry will ruin our chances of truly working together. I contributed to that, and for that I am ashamed. As for things we did well, I was very impressed with Jhartael's spellcasting and everyone's fighting prowess. We bested the guards fairly easily. And we did, after all, find the box with a few minutes to spare. But, again speaking for myself, I worry that I am not doing enough to contribute to the team."
Tamryn - lvl 4 Wood Elf Rogue - Circle of Light Campaign || Drusilla - lvl 1 Half-Elf Ranger - Sleeping Gods || Grrzark - lvl 1 Goblin Barbarian - Danger at Darkshelf Quarry || DM - LTG - Curse of Strahd
Breezy speaks gently to Tamryn. "Don't be too hard on yourself. Somewhere in the back of your mind you knew I wouldn't let any real harm come to her. But it is good that you recognize this as an error which in the 'real world' might have a very different outcome."
Jhaartael gracefully descends onto the cushion, kneeling, sitting on his heels,
He sits placidly like this for a while, seemingly more interested in the way the light angles into the room at this time of day.
He is listening, however, to the debrief and the retrospective thoughts of the members.
Eventually, he poses his own thoughts, although speaking as to no-one in particular.
Eryndor - Red Dead Annihilation | GM - Volo's Trade Franchise - PF2e Adventures set in the Forgotten Realms
As he eats his food, he looks over his teammates. He needs to get to know Kyrsa, Mina and the new one... Lyndaran was it? He needed to get to know them better. He still isn't sure how he feels towards Jhaartael. The high elf's apology had seemed sincere, but he had given up his dislike for Akyan rather quickly. It would take a bit more time before he could be fully trusted. He liked Tamryn so far. He reminded him of--no dont' think about him.
Once finished with his food, Akyan decides to wander around a bit. In doing so, he ventures close to the stable. He walks through the stalls and examines the animals. How long had it been since he last rode? Longer than he liked, but he couldn't bring himself to go back to the ranch. It brought back too many memories, not to mention the new owner hated him. Shaking the memories from his mind, he nods to the stable hands and the horse wranglers and hurries back to the classroom.
_____________________________________________
Akyan listens to what the others has to say before responding. He feels a stab of guilt when Tamryn explains his thoughts. Akyan had always put the mission before his companions. He'd done so his entire life. Wasn't it better if one was sacrificed if it meant saving thousands? "He sounds like Elran. Elran would never leave anyone behind no matter what." Forcing the painful memories from his mind, he says his piece.
"Unlike some of these people, I have had field experience with this sort of thing. However, I have never done one with so many companions or with a time limit. I let my personal experience cloud my judgement to begin with. I was overconfident in the beginning and I started rushing in blindly towards the end. Towards the end I was starting to get fed up with myself and the entire scenario so I didn't really care how it ended since it was just practice. I was expecting to fail." He sighs, "To be honest, I'm not sure if we would have succeeded if Tamryn hadn't tricked the guard."
"Don't worry about it," she tells Tamryn. "Depending on what was in the box, I might have done the same thing." She hesitates, "Don't take that the wrong way, just...there is a time and place for putting the mission before your team. If this had been a real mission, and our failure meant the loss of innocent lives, I would have willingly died to ensure our success. It all depends on the price of failure. If it is something we would have had a second chance at, then the mission comes second as there is no need to risk any of our lives for it. As it was, I put myself in a position to take damage knowing that the rest of you were more equipped to find the box." She pauses, "Besides, you were where you needed to be in that moment. Lyndaran managed to stabilize me while the rest of you focused on the mission. It would not have improved the situation had both of you stopped to help."
_______________________________________________
Kyrsa listens as Tamryn and Jahaartael give their thoughts. She nods in agreement for the most part, and says once they are finished, "Our main downfall was the inability to communicate as a team. Since we are all new to each other, we should have taken a few moments to map out a general plan before blindly rushing in. We knew enough to attempt stealth in the beginning...which quickly dissolved into chaos. After we were discovered, we should have tried other methods, like what Jahaartael did, to circumvent the guards. Fighting should have been our last resort, we could have opted for a distraction instead once our cover was blown." She pauses, "Tamryn really did save the mission with his trickery, I doubt we would have succeeded without his quick thinking. However, I have to admit that I do not believe it would have worked out in the field. Still, he proved his ability to adapt to the situation and used what he had to get us out of a tight spot, which is an invaluable skill in the field." She nods to Tamryn as she speaks, "I think it would benefit us all to do more simulated missions, perhaps some we have a little more time plan for--at least at first. We need opportunities to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, as well as each other's personalities so we have the ability to predict each other's movements. If we were a team who had been together for longer, perhaps we would have been fine jumping in blindly, because we would know what to expect from each other. Now though, we don't. However, we did improve drastically towards the end, after we managed to regroup. We improved on communication, at least a little. We also managed to put people where they would be most useful: Mina and I took care of the combat while Tamryn and Akyan searched for the box. Forgive me Jahaartael, I do not remember where you were...after I blacked out. Though I do know that when I was down, Lyndaran managed to stabilize me while the others searched...Which brings up a good question. Do any of us have experience in medicine? It would be good to know such things in case of an emergency."
"Aside from that, it would also be good to have some context to the missions. We need to be able to asses the importance and what the price of failure would be. That way we don't make rash decisions when it comes to our own lives or the lives of our comrades. Even if the context is vague, that would still be helpful, as it would allow us practice assessing such things."
Aldara allows herself a small smile. "Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This is exactly what we want, that you take a bit of time after each exercise to reflect and look for areas that need improvement, as well as recognizing your successes. If you discover a tactic that works well, you add it to your playbook for future missions. If something turns out disastrously, that is also a valuable lesson. Assuming you survive."
She continues, "Strengths I noted were adaptability, creative thinking, and good fundamentals in basic combat. Areas to work on include division of responsibilities, planning, and fundamentals of certain skills such as moving quietly and bypassing security.
"Each of you has gifts and talents. Do not be afraid to let your teammates know what you excel at. Remember, it is just as important to cause a distraction which disrupts the defense as to be the one who retrieves the symbolic black box. A little misdirection, a feint here, an illusion there," she nods to Jhaartael in recognition, "can greatly reduce the need for actual combat, which frankly is not your strong suit, and intentionally so. We have Team 2 when we need a frontal assault, or to send a message of strength. In most cases, for your missions it will be preferable if the enemy does not even realize you were present until long after you are gone.
"As a heads-up in case you want to plan anything, tomorrow's mission will be a step up. In a village not far from here, a local 'businessman' has been blackmailing the town sheriff. He has acquired certain embarrassing documents about the sheriff's love life and is threatening to reveal them if the lawman does not abandon an investigation of his business practices. Your mission will be to destroy that evidence with this caveat: No combat, unless your lives are in immediate danger. The blackmailer is corrupt but not violent. We have arranged a cover for you as visiting investors from a distant city, and he will be throwing a party in your honor tomorrow evening. You will attend, unarmed, along with many other civilians who are unaware of your true identities and who are not party to the blackmail. There should be NO casualties or collateral damage. This is a test of your ingenuity. The businessman only knows that you are from a reputable investment house, but you are free to come up with the details of your cover identities.
"The DCL is not for those who seek individual glory. We succeed together or we fail together. I suppose that is all I have for now. Tomorrow morning we will again have physical training at 5 AM, and afterwards I've invited our camp chief of security, to provide a refresher course in certain skills of subtlety. You are dismissed for the evening."
(Again, feel free to discuss, explore, etc. When you are ready, take a long rest, and we will begin day 2)
When dismissed, Jhaartael rises and crosses to the instructors.
"Thank you for your appraisal and advice. I am certain we shall continue to improve."
To Breezy he says, "As I am only recently on the path of the School of Enchantment, I am eager to learn what I can of the use of the arcane in works of subterfuge, confidence, and persuasion. Do you have any books that you would suggest I study?"
Later, in the bunk room, Jhaartael will trance for a few hours, then, once rejuvenated, he will lay open his spell book. Pondering the mission ahead he will consider what spells he might prepare that would be most useful. He decides that all but the most basic defense and offense spells are not needed. He decides to prepare spells to allow him to detect thoughts, render a party member invisible or to influence another's actions by his magical suggestion. He also maintains his spells of illusion and charming as well as one to disguise himself and mentions that he has a few scrolls that do the same should any of the party wish to try to disguise themselves at need.
When the party is preparing in the morning, he will inform them of his changed spells and inquire if any of them have any ideas on how they should dress for the occasion. He also asks if perhaps the team should come up with a few plans and vet them with their instructors while they are still at the Farm.
Eryndor - Red Dead Annihilation | GM - Volo's Trade Franchise - PF2e Adventures set in the Forgotten Realms
After the meeting, Aldara calls Kyrsa aside:
You may have noticed you are the only one on the team with actual military experience. I am looking to you to be a leader, an organizer, and someone who helps formulate an overall coherent battle plan for each mission. For now, this is informal, as you must still win the trust of your peers. But look for opportunities to build the team's morale, and demonstrate those skills you learned as a squad leader.
Breezy looks up at Jhaartael and smiles. "Well, my library isn't nearly as extensive as I'd like, but you are free to peruse what I have here on site. Hmm, there is one volume that comes to mind, come with me..."
She leads you to the Administration building and has you wait outside. In a few moments, she returns and hands you a tome entitled Simon Magus' Magickal Manual: How to Win Friends (with Magic) and Influence People.
Within the book you find the instructions to cast sleep, Tasha's hideous laughter, Jim's glowing coin and gift of gab, along with some spells that you already know.
"Thank you Breezy. This looks quite promising. May I keep it a few days. I would like to study it between missions?"
If this is okay with Breezy, Jhaartael will take 2 hours and spend 50gp in ink to transcribe Jim's glowing coin into his spellbook.
Eryndor - Red Dead Annihilation | GM - Volo's Trade Franchise - PF2e Adventures set in the Forgotten Realms