Slice and Dice

[Robert Cross]

Cross's stare is flat, emotionless, and fixed unerringly on Jack as he speaks. The advice is strong, but he can't help resenting the Creep for his presumption of authority. Who knew we had such a wealth of knowledge in our midst? At this point, Cross has learned to keep his sarcasm to himself, but that doesn't mean he can't indulge in it silently.

Still, even if he finds Jack's boasting about murder distasteful, mere braggadocio, even if he has a hard time imagining the Creep mourning anyone, he forces himself to give Jack an appreciative nod. "Makes sense. Thanks for the guidance."

With that, he looks from Jack to Alice, then Gilroy. Suddenly, he feels the burden of their company. Family is family, but sometimes a Haunt needs to be alone. "I think I've had enough for tonight," he says to no one in particular. "And there's other business I have to attend to." His eyes stay on the Regent, "Unless I'm needed here?"

[Alice Hart]

Alice hums. Looking around at Jack decor, she didn't think he'd have such a breath of knowledge, but she should have. Especially with how he'd been instructing them over the last few hours. She jerks her head in agreement with Robert, before adding her own thanks. "Yeah. Thanks a bunch. I mean it." even though her voice sounded hollow and fake. "Always a good thing to learn a thing or two about a thing or two." she tries to quip.

Alice waves at Robert as he takes his leave.

"if we were to keep a training program up, is there anything specific you'd need?" Alice asks Jack, maybe this could be a point to exert her authority as Keeper, though she looks up at the worm to see after his own thoughts.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Patience. Mobility. First Strike. It informed Kenneth’s knowledge of each. And he was somewhat glad at the variety of opinions, even if they disagreed with his own. Oddly, Robert’s idea melded most closely to his own than either Alice’s of Jack’s. However, for the tasks he had assigned, it was ideal.

Patience for the Sheriff. It required presence of mind. Careful thought. The perfect mindset to investigate. Then investigate some more to ensure they weren’t being deceived by outside forces.

Mobility. Odd for a Keeper but not out of place. Mobility. Flexability. The ability to change stance and position when things went south. If the Caldarium turned into the bloodbath she so despised, she would need to evacuate as quickly as possibly. The capability to switch between social and combat mindsets was vital. If not for keeping the peace, then at least for making sure an attacker’s damage was mitigated.

And preemptive strike. It was dangerous. It had the possibility to enflame a war if used to early. Yet firing the first nuke could save many more lives than it destroyed. Kenneth doubted that Jack thought in terms other than personal combat. Yet there were larger scale conflicts that had to be taken into account. Where first strike was ideal in one on one, it could invite retaliation in a larger context. Gilroy was glad he had leashed the Hound when he had… At least he hoped the Hound was leashed. He didn’t want a mindless minion. That was what he’d said. The worm hoped he hadn’t misjudged Carrigan and that the Carthian had judgement of his own.

Jack wasn’t wrong. Frist strike could make or break a situation. Yet, if you were prepared (fully prepared) you would either make first strike or have a plan for if you didn’t. Many forces in history had been defeated despite have the initiative and larger numbers. Still, how much could large group tactics/strategy apply to the small peer group of Kindred? How much of Carrigan’s bloodthirsty gaze was informing Kenneth’s opinion and how much was speaking for true?

“Fights are not wars, Jack,” the worm said. It was almost a whisper of a second thought.

“I would definitely try to attend further lessons,” the Regent stated “However, don’t let my opinion sway you too much. If you have other matter to attend to, we have all eternity to teach the Clan defense.” More or less. It all depended on how long anyone induvial decided to stay in the city. Even having assigned everyone a position, the worm help his doubts to his chest like precious gem of fear that they would abandon him at the soonest opportunity.