"Oh, sod off," Gertrude grumbled in response to Fanilly and Rolan's appreciation, almost imperceptible through the howl of the wind as they rocketed through the air. Gertrude steered sharply away from the oncoming horde of vulture-hags, only to realize that they had already been shot down by another party. But was it a third party, or a member of the first two? She couldn't say, but it made her wary. At the very least, Rolan didn't seem too concerned. Perhaps it was an ally she was unaware of.

Anyways, it wasn't like she wanted to help Fanilly specifically, she just wanted to win. It ticked her off that she was being thanked for her self-interest, but there really wasn't time for extra clarification. With most of the crones off their back, Gertrude had the opportunity to keep steady and allow Rolan to loose a bolt towards Rozenalt. Gertrude couldn't, for the life of her, tell who was winning that bloodbath. She could only guess that the victor would be whoever had more resources. More cards to play. And in that sense, she'd have to go with the smug blackguard.

Well, the [i]other[/i] smug blackguard.

That is to say, not [i]her[/i] smug blackguard.

Rozenalt.

But if she counted the Roses among Tyaethe's cards... they may as well be cheating as hard as the original Roses did in [i]their[/i] card games. What sort of idiot would insist on intentionally playing with less from the start? It didn't make sense-

Dammit, she was starting to [i]appreciate[/i] people. She'd need a stiff drink after this fight. Her eyes shifted back to Rolan. Gretchen had already started chanting, and Gertrude had a feeling that a powerful spell would be required judging from the movement to the north.

"I'm more than happy to engage in some gratuitous killing, though I'm not sure if the party to the north is [i]numbers[/i] or [i]size[/i]. Ah, scheiß drauf, either one will require some real firepower. Load up something that explodes."