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Originally Posted by Nogrod
But now I think it's up to you Legate to decide - as you have been the main writer for Scyrr - whether his actions in Groin's last post were ones he would take.
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Well, Scyrr is still an NPC - although a bit of "the" NPC as he was one of the few representatives of Athanar's soldiers in the beginning. I don't want to edit Groin's post or anything just because of him, at least not too much. Of course it seems a bit over the top at some moments, namely the start when the soldier throws a stone at Erbrand and then later the thing about the knife. But if we want to keep it like it is, maybe we could come up with some reasons for why the soldier would act like he did.
The initiation of the fight could have been explainable, and after all, it was Erbrand who really started the fight itself. Scyrr could have had good reasons to provoke him, even perhaps to throw the stone (if it was a bit of an impulsive action slightly "over the top" where Scyrr just didn't think of the consequences). Bullying locals would not seem out of character: from Scyrr's point of view, Erbrand is alone (i.e. in his opinion harmless) and stinks (a good thing to start mocking him about). Scyrr is generally thinking negatively about the locals, he probably dislikes being transferred to this middle of nowhere, he is the type who complains about everything and now the first impression is still fresh, so he had a long journey yesterday, his friend got beaten and the one who did it was not punished (unjust outcome, from Scyrr's point of view), Scyrr maybe drank a lot yesterday and now he did not get enough sleep today and the barracks are too small and he is supposed to go to training after this, add to this that he is simply in bad mood today and it's early in the morning and tada, we have a good basis for him to want to be nasty to any Scarburgian who appears nearby. And of all the people, the one who shows up is Erbrand, who is here with his stinking stuff and dares to gainsay to Scyrr, especially in front of for example Ginna, who is, after all, an attractive young woman. Scyrr would not have it, but he does not know Erbrand's temper, and before he can stop (there has been the warning from Coen about brawling after all), they are in the middle of a fight which turns out to be unstoppable.
The part where Scyrr draws a knife I'm also wondering about. We could perhaps pass it if we close one eye, as much as with the former. At least it was at the time when Erbrand was already threatening to break Scyrr's leg (from what I have gathered from the post), thus, once again it might have been an impulsive reaction - we may count in the fact that just before that, the women screamed "stop, you will kill him", which might have triggered something in Scyrr's mind: "kill" - is he going to kill me? - knife! And there it came.
So that'd be for the mind analysis
(I should become a psychologist it seems) My main concern is how it would be possible for a soldier like that, who has been warned particularly not to start any brawls, and who had been under Athanar's command possibly for years, to do what he did. I think we could really sum it in two basic ideas, first: Scyrr was a bit of a bully to begin with, but of course he kept himself in line as a soldier as not to get himself into trouble; second: the fact that he did what he did now is simply that moving into a new place was such a shock for him (maybe he never left Edoras before?) and the people just annoyed him immensely. Unfortunate set of coincidenes unforeseen by Athanar or Coen, who might have hoped that Scyrr (if he was already noticed as being on the "low end" of Athanar's men) would get more "fresh air" here and become more "tame" instead, but quite the opposite happened.
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I do agree with you Legate that there should be no major "hunting-party" to go after Lithor and Erbrand - especially as Scyrr is still alive and not probably even so badly hurt. I think people of the Mead Hall would be informed that the two had left - and it will be interesting to hear how different characters will react to that. In due time - like the next time there is a courier to pass messages between the MH and Edoras - lord Athanar will inform king Eomer about a deserter soldier and that's it - I think. Erbrand sure is free to go, and beating someone up probably isn't a crime that would lead into major search-parties in the ME, but a soldier leaving his duty might warrant some notification - not that he would be actively searched for but if met somewhere he would be brought to face justice for deserting his post.
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Indeed. In the end, it seems that Scyrr was only almost strangled to death, but not quite. And when it comes to it, even the wedge between the "old" and "new" Scarburg created by this does not need to have to be so strong as I have initially thought. In fact, there needs not to be any at all: people can have different opinions (hasn't Erbrand always been a bit rash? Why would he flee if it was all the soldier's fault? Etc. And on the other hand, Athanar's men probably know that Scyrr is a bit of a bully if he is one).
So in other words, I think it's the best to leave it like it is and indeed take it as an opportunity, if
Groin's decision is as it is. After all, he can even return at least with Erbrand later, if he wants to. And I think we can leave his post without editing as he wished - unless the people posting for the other characters acting there appear and wish to edit that...