Chapter 663 - Men With Hats.

"So… cool story and all, and I'm sure Kat can appreciate the history lesson… but that didn't really answer the WHY of things. I've got a few guesses, and I'm sure Nix has a few more, but that's just the basics" said Green as she leaned backwards over her chair to 'face' the chatting group.

Nell smiled slightly, as she picked herself back up. The story affected her somewhat, but it was mostly just her siblings being overprotective. A few hugs and a bit of gumption was enough to get her though it. "A few of those guesses would probably be right. We've got a couple reasons I suppose. The first and most obvious is basically to give the elders a big middle finger. Nobody in our clan has ever won the big tournament, and because I'm taking the lead position that's another bit of proof.

"On top of that, I hope to use the potential access to the worlds top information brokers to find out if my mother's death was truly an accident," shocked gasps came from Green and Gareth as Nell spoke, while Kat was able to at least see that coming, and Nixilei and Kress were completely unsurprised. "I don't really have any evidence either way. I was too young to remember the attack, and while it was a little strange for such a powerful monster to attack our clan, this isn't the first time it's happened.

"Normally we get roaming bands of monsters rather than a single much stronger one, but truthfully I have no reason to suspect foul play. It… it just seems like the sort of thing that would be attempted in the situation we found ourselves in and it's not like our clan is free from consequences." Nell tapped a few errant fingers along the table, "I do think Grandpa would have told us about the plot had he been in on it… but he took a very hands off approach to if Dad should be replaced as chief or not."

"That seems kinda irresponsible," said Kat. "Why not support your father in his choices? Or at the very least push the issue down the road until he has more kids… or even just letting you become chief for like a day before replacing you, or even replacing you before you become chief… or just forcing you not to be the heir. I can see a lot of ways you Grandpa could have helped here without causing problems. Those are just a couple ideas off the top of my head."

Nell winced and made a 'so-so' gesture. "Grandpa… Grandpa really is a 'my clan is my family' kind of person. He really did see the whole clan, which is a few thousand people, as his family. Grandpa decided that he was too close to the issue. It was like… for him, even though he clearly had a 'favourite son' and no I'm not talking about my aunt or uncle I'm being more metaphorical. So he had that 'son' and Grandpa thought it was the best for the clan or else Dad wouldn't have been made chief after he retired… but Grandpa also decided he was too close to the issue and abstained through most of it.

"I'll admit," Nell grit her teeth and clenched her fists for a moment before letting them go, "that I think he took the easy way out by saying it wasn't his problem basically and leaving it to everyone else. Then again, I don't really see the whole clan as my family, just my blood family… and I guess the guy Auntie married. He's alright I suppose. That's not the point though, point is the Wolf Tribe isn't family, it's my clan or tribe. Similar but different."

*I still think Nell's grandad is kind of a wimp. Just man up and own your decisions. Even if you're 'too close to the issue' the man ran the clan for at least a decade, probably closer to a century based on that story. Just own your decisions like the ex-clan chief you are. It almost feels like he spent too long making decisions and doesn't trust himself to do it anymore… which is dumb. 150 isn't that old for beasktin… I think… and he was the chief so probably somewhat powerful increasing his lifespan. I doubt he was going senile so why did he just let a bunch of elders walk all over him once he was one?

Hmmm… do I have unrealistically high expectations of grandfather figures because of Gramps? Maybe? He's more of a father figure if anything despite the name though… do I just have high expectations for male role models then? Hmm… I never really felt like my teachers were doing a poor job… bears more thinking about. Perhaps I'll talk to Lily about it IF SHE WAKES UP.* 

Sadly, Kat's mental shout did nothing at all to wake up her sleeping partner so she was left to give an answer without any advice. "No offense… but I kinda feel like that's a weak excuse. I mean, maybe I can't really talk considering I grew up in an orphanage and was helping run it before I left… but yeah it sort of just sounds like you grandad should have stood by his decisions, or just… taken a stance of some kind even if it was replacing your Dad. Like does he even want the position?"

Nell opened her mouth to answer with an affirmative before slamming her mouth shut. A few more moments past before a soft, "I… I don't know… I don't know? I… I never asked…"

Before Kat could comment on that particular startling revelation the sound of rustling fabric was heard again. Turning, Kat watched as the largest man she'd ever seen outside of the demon realm walked inside, ducking to actually get through the doorway. The large hat he had on didn't help things at all.

The man in question looked to be a crocodile beastkin with a thick scaly tail trailing behind him. He was built like a brick shithouse with half plate armour protecting sensitive areas but mostly leaving his tree trunks he called arms free to interact with the world. In fact, Kat was almost certain that if you ignored her wings, just one of the man's arms were nearly larger than Kat, mostly just losing out due to her height. He stood at a staggering 250cm's (8'2) tall and had a light dusting of scales on his face that made him look like he had sideburns. It did help the fact that it seemed the croc man was bald, but really he hat stole the show.

And what a hat it was. Easily another 50cm's tall, though it did shrink down automatically as the man walked into the building. The hat itself depicted a swampy marshland with various terrace layers and what looked like real water flowing down between them. There was little mangrove trees, dots that flew around acting like insects and shadows in the water to indicate fish living their as well. How much was real and how much was fake was essentially impossible to discern even for Kat. She knew at the very least it wasn't an illusion… but more than that… it was just impressive regardless.

After all that, his weapons seemed rather disappointing. He held a tower shield, that really seemed more like a medium sized kite shield in his massive hands with a club on his side. It was a fairly basic looking metal club with no spikes on it… then again when it was sized for a 250cm giant then did it really need anything else to be deadly?

The crazy train continued as behind him walked two humans with a set of matching crazy hats. They both had half of a stone arch on their heads, and based on the fact that when they leaned into each other the pieces all lined up and clicked into place, Kat guessed they were either a couple or siblings. She was leaning towards couple based on the fact they looked nothing like each other. The hat itself was a lovingly carved archway that looked less like someone sheared the pieces in half and more like two halves reaching out for each other with long fingers of stone. There was a few moving details in the stonework to enhance it above simply a hat. One such picture was a lady pouring liquid from a goblet onto another person's head.

Kat moved on from the tiny stonework lest she get lost in the details. For clothing they both had on simple but fine-looking navy-blue robes. They had plain looking faces, though of different kinds. The leftmost man had a sharp chin and a bit of stubble on his face and nice black hair that was cut short. The rightmost man had thin sandy hair that looked like it really needed a wash and a rather pretty boy face that was spoiled by the dark bags under his eyes making it look like sleep was less of a constant companion and more of a fickle dalliance to be had on occasion.

Kat was already sure this whole group was crazy.. She hadn't even seen the final two yet.