This time, Cao Pi waits until discussion about the dream visions drifts off before changing the subject, to the one more near and dear to his heart: defense.
"I will begin by acknowledging that during this attack, we had approximately half of our population out of commission. I'm sure things might not have been quite so dire if everyone was awake with a weapon in hand, but by the same token, I cannot say without taking a survey whether all of them can hold a weapon, let alone use it. So, I will not waste time talking about how things might have been, or might be if we simply have more fighters on hand. Numbers are not the main difference between life and death, here."
He pauses to nod deeply toward Riku. "I want to take the spirits at their word, that they will hold off attacking us if we don't do exactly what they want in the time they want it done." Oops maybe a little shade, sorry not sorry. "In time, perhaps we can build on that agreement and our communications. Until then, we cannot neglect our defenses and preparation. Inspector Javert's training sessions are going well, and the initial agreement to designate the Invincible as our fallback position worked. Yet, we clearly had no idea just how powerful some of the spirits are. We saw more than we had before - bigger, stronger, and with abilities we hadn't imagined. Then, there are the spirits with green eyes, which affect the mind rather than the body, and we currently have no way to stop those.
"My instinct is to want a wall, they've always served my people to keep invaders out to a point, but this location doesn't support one. That, and alienating the spirits by implying we don't want them entering the town could prove worse. But we must have better defenses than simply being armed and ready to fight. The Invincible is a prime location but it has too many entry points. The armory is an important resource but so far out from the square that people may die trying to reach it. I am open to any and all ideas, as well as further volunteers to spearhead our efforts."
Cao Pi | open
"I will begin by acknowledging that during this attack, we had approximately half of our population out of commission. I'm sure things might not have been quite so dire if everyone was awake with a weapon in hand, but by the same token, I cannot say without taking a survey whether all of them can hold a weapon, let alone use it. So, I will not waste time talking about how things might have been, or might be if we simply have more fighters on hand. Numbers are not the main difference between life and death, here."
He pauses to nod deeply toward Riku. "I want to take the spirits at their word, that they will hold off attacking us if we don't do exactly what they want in the time they want it done." Oops maybe a little shade, sorry not sorry. "In time, perhaps we can build on that agreement and our communications. Until then, we cannot neglect our defenses and preparation. Inspector Javert's training sessions are going well, and the initial agreement to designate the Invincible as our fallback position worked. Yet, we clearly had no idea just how powerful some of the spirits are. We saw more than we had before - bigger, stronger, and with abilities we hadn't imagined. Then, there are the spirits with green eyes, which affect the mind rather than the body, and we currently have no way to stop those.
"My instinct is to want a wall, they've always served my people to keep invaders out to a point, but this location doesn't support one. That, and alienating the spirits by implying we don't want them entering the town could prove worse. But we must have better defenses than simply being armed and ready to fight. The Invincible is a prime location but it has too many entry points. The armory is an important resource but so far out from the square that people may die trying to reach it. I am open to any and all ideas, as well as further volunteers to spearhead our efforts."