"Your own angelic character aside, it speaks of traits a little different to suspect others of manipulation when they themselves may be exhibiting perfectly pleasant behaviour." There were clipped edges to Naren's words, insulted by the assumptions that Akeme had made. Everyone had their vices, be it ego, helplessness, greed; but it was unbecoming to immediately play on them in such a way. He pressed his lips together in a thin line, a little disappointed by someone he had thought rather pleasant, if a little dull.
Naren looked down at her along his nose before deciding to answer. "I expect I will be singing for my supper at some tavern tonight. It will be the one with the crowd, of course." Ego was definitely Naren's vice. It earned him a chance though, when he was so confident in his abilities, sometimes that opened doors that would otherwise be barred. Nobody wanted a shy bard when they could get a bawdy one. The flip side was that nobody wanted a hungry bard either, when they could get one with a few less demands than Naren had; food, bed please. Thankfully there weren't many bards that didn't want at least one of those- and had half the skills of the elf.
"I could not say how long I expect to be down in the south here however. My trade rather depends on the audiences, as you may appreciate."
Naren looked down at her along his nose before deciding to answer. "I expect I will be singing for my supper at some tavern tonight. It will be the one with the crowd, of course." Ego was definitely Naren's vice. It earned him a chance though, when he was so confident in his abilities, sometimes that opened doors that would otherwise be barred. Nobody wanted a shy bard when they could get a bawdy one. The flip side was that nobody wanted a hungry bard either, when they could get one with a few less demands than Naren had; food, bed please. Thankfully there weren't many bards that didn't want at least one of those- and had half the skills of the elf.
"I could not say how long I expect to be down in the south here however. My trade rather depends on the audiences, as you may appreciate."
