The Art of Persuasion – Chapter 7, Act 2, Strip 32

The bad news of the day is that our heroes are still not able to come to any joint decision, and the discussion keeps going in the established circles, just somewhat livelier and testier than before. Mopey is sticking to her guns, despite not having any guns, when having some guns might actually change her outlook on the situation to begin with, anyway.

The good news is that DM is not nearly as patient as he loves to pretend. >_> And he keenly understands how an immediate and acute threat can cut through a whole mountain of hypotheticals. A vicious, ghostly cave bear fits that bill nicely, and an under-caffeinated, vicious, ghostly cave bear is almost overqualified for the position. In fact, DM’s entire, sterling reputation as a personal coach is based mostly on simple, little realizations like this one.

And, yeah, in his youth DM had a notable obsession with attempting to summon gummi bears. He tried to modify many different spells to achieve that end, but ultimately only succeeded in creating some bizarre freaks of nature. He doesn’t like to talk about it, nowadays, but Disney made a cartoon show about the result. But that’s another story, and it will be told another day. And not here, of all places.

Mopey was really holding down her end of the discussion quite well, even if she was pretty isolated with her opinion towards the end. And even if she slipped up a little at one point: in describing their dismal surroundings, she inadvertently described her ideal holiday spot, and the others would almost have caught on to that. Tsk, tsk. Keep your subconscious more sub, please, Mopey.

Anyway, our heroes finally stride boldly forth into a new world of adventure.*

More on Mon…uh, Thursday.

* DM’s observation on history isn’t totally untrue, of course. You can get drafted into some army against your will, kept in line with the threat of execution for desertion, and later declared a hero who “fought bravely for x”… and you might even still be alive to enjoy it.