Druid has to try hard not to scoff at Streban's puffed up arrogance. He meets Streban's stare levelly, not allowing himself to be intimidated by the mans stare...he will admit that he has an imposing presence for one so comparatively tiny, but once you have died and been reborn - and once you have lost all memory - nothing seems to scare you any more. For one, every memory that may have been there to subconsciously influence your fears and attitudes are, to put it bluntly, gone, so why would a hard stare scare you if you didn't remember anybody else who you respected giving you that look? Druid is not intimidated or impressed by Streban. By Nature, he doesn't even<em>respect</em>the man; this behaviour is not uncommon of Streban, from what he can tell, and if Streban does not respect Druid, why should Druid respect him? Secondly....what's he going to do? Kill him again, on the brink of battle? No. Druid is a deadly fighter, and they both know it. Besides, they have a contract, and he highly doubts that Streban would end it early over a minor disagreement and lose one of his "elites," as he calls them. Druid's dark molten gold eyes stare back at the Necromancer, unimpressed and highly unamused. He is not impressed with this spellcasters bravado and little speech....even less so because he resorts to petty-minded, pathetic insults to make himself feel right. Whatever Streban is, he is<em>not</em>ignorant of his own craft, and so he knows that Druids simply cannot commune with the dead; he is right in that death is a part of nature, but it is<em>natural</em>for spirits to move on. Not to do so is<em>unnatural</em>and therefore not within a Druid's power. Streban would be a fool not to know this....so either he is a fool who is proving himself as such, or he is simply trying to make an ad hominem attack on Druid to make him seem foolish. That is the only reason that such a comment would be aired, and Druid does not particularly like it. Just because he himself cannot commune with the spirits of the damned does not make his question any less relevant. So. As well as being pompous and arrogant, Streban is also dishonest and petty. That is a poor checklist to be ticking, and Druid wonders why in Mother Nature he would allow this cretin to raise him. It must be a very good reason....alas, if only he could remember it.<br/><br/>He does not, however, rise to the bait. Arguing the point with Streban would only serve to stall them further, and show him to be as petty-minded as Streban himself, quibbling over small slights and semantics. Let the others believe what they will about him; he is here to fight, not to make friends, and in opening his mouth he is risking allowing Streban another chance to disingenuously attempt to cut him down in front of people who do not know whether what he is saying is correct or not. It is better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt, after all...and he can silently seethe at Streban, or even pull him aside and tell him in no uncertain terms that such passive aggressive behaviour will not make him more willing to help later. Oh, he probably won't - he is not so petty as that - but it is the thought that he<em>might</em>that helps him bite his tongue, even through Streban's obviously deliberate exclusion of him from the plans. So, he had the gall to ask the Great Streban what the plan might be - since soldiers need orders to carry out any plan successfully - and he is as a result sidelined from any actions whatsoever? He resists snorting once more. This man is their leader? An arrogant, puffed-up, foolish, petty little man who, whether intentionally or not, alienates his followers for speaking their mind? Hmph. They will go far under his<em>excellent</em>leadership, he is sure. Streban perhaps desires Druid to speak up and ask what his part of the plan will be, to have him vocally admit that there is a plan and to ask for a part of it, as would certainly stroke his little ego...and as much as Druid may not like it, he cannot spend this battle just watching everybody else. If they lose, he dies as well, and whilst he holds no fear of death, it would be rather inconvenient for their mission to die. He is about to ask what he should do, however, when Hazamir comes to his rescue - metaphorically speaking - and gives him a different task. With one last look at Streban - a flat, unimpressed and wholly defiant look; he doesn't sneer, though. Sneering would cause more problems than it solved - he turns and follows Hazamir to the bookshelf.<br/><br/>Hazamir is an interesting case. The man is a murderer, that much he knows, but in this room everybody has killed at least once, probably more. He was a Druid who was killed in battle - as far as he can tell - and so he must have provoked somebody for them to venture into the forest looking for him, which probably means injuring at least. And Streban deliberately sought out those who could fight and kill without hesitation, so...what does that say about Druid himself? Yes, Hazamir "The Manhunter" may have killed, but until Druid knows the specifics, he cannot make any judgements except those that he makes based on observations, and at the moment, he has no reason to suspect Hazamir of being an all around bad man. He is polite and courteous, he follows orders and he hasn't tried to kill any of them yet, so in his books that makes Hazamir worthy of at least a modicum of respect and trust. Of course, such commodities are fragile and easily broken, but for now, he is willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with him if it comes to it. And if nothing else, he stopped him from having to specifically ask Streban for an assignment, so for the moment he has bought himself some courtesy. Hazamir does seem to have a unique hatred of humans, bordering....well, no. Not bordering. Wallowing in racism, more like, but for some reason it does not appear to extend to Druid himself. It could be that he's dead, but that doesn't make any sense given his hostility to Dawn and Castor, so...well, being a Ranger himself, it is likely something to do with Druid being a, well, Druid. Whatever the reason, at least there is one man here that does not look down on Druid (metaphorically, at least; he towers above all of them in the literal sense) and his laconic speech. Druid himself starts to investigate the bookshelf, but given that this is a small poor town in the wilderness, he highly doubts that there are many complex mechanisms that Streban didn't put here when the rest of them weren't looking, so he begins looking around the bookcase. There may well be a book trigger, but Druid prefers the direct approach; the simplest solutions are usually the best, and not many simple mechanisms that do not use magic can resist enough brute force. Obviously subtler tactics are useful at times, but in scenarios like this, strength is usually the best way.<br/><br/>He spots the scuff marks on the floor and wall, and nods. No hidden mechanism, no magical incantation, just pure brute strength. It can't be hard to move, since most holy men in villages like this are nowhere near as strong as Druid, so without a word - he's not trying to be rude to Hazamir, he just doesn't have anything to say right now - he braces his hands on the wood and pushes. It resists for a moment, but soon enough the screeching sound of wood-on-wood fills the room as the bookshelf slides across the floor. A few books shake and fall out of their places, but Druid doesn't pay attention and pretty soon, the bookshelf has been pushed a few feet across the floor, revealing the entrance to the passageway that was hiding behind the shelf. The wall was skilfully painted, but if you knew what you were looking for, it's fairly easy to spot. He gestures for Hazamir to go first - he's smaller, and it looks to be a bit of a tight fit for Druid, so he would prefer he stay behind so as not to slow Hazamir down in the event of a fight, as unlikely as that is - and then follows him down to the crossroads. He stops, looking in each direction; some of the passages are labelled in languages that Druid can understand, and he is guessing that the passage marked in Elven is the one they are looking for. In all honesty, he doesn't understand why Streban didn't simply put the sign in common; how hard would it be to label the passage "Hazamir, go this way?" But, he supposes that Streban has some strange ideas of simplicity, or just likes to look clever. Regardless, they need to get moving. Druid begins to walk. The passageway looks long, dank and dark, but it is also quiet...and if anything moves, the echo's will let them know. After a few minutes, he does eventually speak...his words carry in the tunnel, but he doesn't much care who hears them. A distant chanting reaches his ears, and he figures that it has begun....one of the armies is chanting, and from what he knows of Siegebreakers, they aren't the type to sing.<br/><br/>"It's begun," he says simply, nodding sharply back in the direction they came. He pauses for a few moments. "So...you claim to have an insight into what our<em>esteemed</em>leader is planning? He neatly sidestepped that question in favour of petty insults when it was posed to him." He looks at Hazamir closely....if his reading is correct, Hazamir is not fond of Streban...perhaps he is the one to vent to. You must be careful who you confide in, of course, but bottling every bit of frustration up inside without some kind of venting mechanism is unwise, dangerous even. Whilst he can direct his frustration at the enemy, sometimes you just need to vent vocally....and in a private tunnel, with a man who may dislike Streban equally? It's as good a bet as any. The Paladin would likely not sympathise whatsoever, Deanora would berate him and run to tell her darling Streban - her worship of him is sickening, at best; he noted her eye roll earlier, he just chose to ignore her self-important little gesture. She would not survive without Streban and her little toy keeping her safe, of that he is certain - and the others he does not really know well enough to make a judgement. He doesn't know Hazamir that well, but he can get a few impressions from his actions. He just hopes they are correct, or he may face another condescending remark directed at him, and whilst he is a patient man and slow to anger, he would not be particularly pleased if in this "Party," he did not have at least one person who did not view him as a large oaf, useful only for his strength. Besides, he mentioned earlier that he may know what Streban is planning, and an insight into the plan meant to prevent them all from dying would be useful, to say the least. He lets out a short, snorting half-scoff, half chuckle. "He does not appear to like me very much. Fortunately for my feelings, the sentiment is mutual." He glances at Hazamir. What will he say, he wonders? He suspects that reading people would be easier for him if he had his memories...of course, those memories might come with some revelations that he would rather not experience right now. He does idly wonder if they will return upon his re-death, but he is not in a hurry to find out.