Strategy Meeting

"First things first," you say. "Until we've built up our forces, we'll need to mask our presence as much as we can. The world knows we're in Ixtacotak; the local Dragonlord knows we're on their land and wants me dead. So, the first question - who is the local Dragonlord, and where exactly are we?"

Blank stares. You shrug. "What? The continent is large and I was, in fact, born yesterday. I was not given knowledge outside of my capabilities and your circumstances." Not entirely true - you know at least a little about the lives of everyone who made a wish on your fall, even if most are vague and blur together - but the fact remains that none of that tells you where you are on a map.

Fortunately, Xixi steps forward. "I know," says Xixi, his new voice a pleasing melodic tenor. "This is my home, a small island on the northeast of the continent ruled by Dragonlord Yaoyotl. It's how I knew of this hideaway, and knew that it was otherwise a secret to the lord's forces."

"Excellent," you say. "Is this Yaoyotl likely to escalate, or to share his knowledge of my presence freely?"

"Yaoyotl is an orange hydra," the spirit replies. "Normally, he's quite content for his kingdom to stay as it is, and quite even-tempered unless seriously provoked. Similarly, he's not typically one to share information with his peers unless there's a significant benefit to him; he's unlikely to consider this island being overrun with hunters looking for you advantageous."

"Under normal circumstances," he continues, "I would say we're likely to be quite safe here. But those assassins awaiting you were his men, and came here on foot. I cannot imagine a reason he'd be so eager to kill you from the moment of your birth - they cited Memnoph, but what quarrel could you have with the god of magic and knowledge?"

"I stole something of his on the way down," you reply, mostly successful in keeping your tone casual, like it's nothing to be concerned about. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you hear the gentle ring of Megumin's laughter. "Don't worry about the details, but it's why I'm making stealth a priority in these early days."

Tiana and Metztli share a concerned glance. Through the link, you detect some jealousy from the blonde. You suppose your evident casual relationship with the gods, compared to her own difficulties with her ex-patron, is giving her some cause for envy.

"Regardless," you press on, "that leaves us with a few practical concerns. We won't be safe here so long as Yaoyotl hunts us on Memnoph's behalf, so we need to do everything in our power to keep him from identifying this as my lair. Tozi, I'm putting you in charge of hunting. Take any of the arisen or the dead who meet your standards, if any, and bring down the largest herbivore you can find. But only a single animal. I'll be able to make the food it provides stretch as long as we need."

The fox next to the young huntress yips; you take that as a yes from both of them. Tozi cocks her head. "Make last how?"

"As you've seen, my full resurrections do not require an _intact _corpse," you reply. There's a moment before the pieces come together. Most of the group are unbothered, but Ichika and Metztli both go somewhat pale.

"Regardless, that should solve our food problems," you say, changing the subject for the benefit of the more easily nauseated of your people. "More importantly, it will do so without unbalancing our surroundings in a way an observer could notice. We'll still need to do some scrounging for plants and herbs, but our footprint should be minimal enough to make us effectively invisible."

Next, you turn to Ichika and Tiana. "We need a security perimeter that doesn't look like a security perimeter," you tell your petite powerhouses. "I want the dead spread out in a way that lets them easily warn of incoming enemies, but does not let enemy scouts determine our own position at their center. General, your thoughts?"

Tiana pipes up, her military expertise taking over her bearing. "You'll want flexible patrol lines, with at least two decoy locations to center them around. Ichika, I'll need to talk with you in depth to go over your capabilities and figure out the limits of your control."

"Y-yes," says Ichika. She's clearly still shaken from your earlier revelation, and the ongoing rapid-fire shifts are clearly only throwing her further off balance.

You look to the others. Xixi, Mitztli, and Nenetl are still paying close attention, but you seem to be losing the rest of your companions. Gromna's eyes have glazed over, and she sits focused on nothing, slowly rubbing herself under her furs. Tozi and Ignar are clearly both bored, but look on with valiant attempts at maintaining their interest.

Time to wrap this up.