Midnight was approaching at the Inn of the Seven Deadly Sins and Thorin was getting extremely irritated....

"Tell me again why I should take you instead of Bear."

Vanth leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

"Besides the obvious plus of intelligent conversation?"

Thorin sighed.

Vanth signalled for two more drinks.

"I just plain have more skills than Bear. Sure, he's a Fighter. That means that he's ONLY good in a fight. You know that I have MANY skills besides the fight related ones."

"Aye. Most of them are used to help start or avoid a fight."

"You're just biased. Why would you need Bear? You're a good fighter but you NEED my skills. I can do more than just open locks you know. Where'd you get that nifty shield? Did Bear bargain that guy at the Adventurer's Guild down? Could Bear tell that he was lying? Would Bear have known what it was REALLY worth? Noooooo....."

"Maybe ye're right. I should take Brianna. She's good at intimidating merchants....."

"BRIANNA? A MAGE? For the love of Arias. She can't even wear armor. Sure she can burn everything in sight but MAN is that obvious. No finesse whatsoever. Me, I'm quiet. I can hide really well and climb and move silently. I can go where she can't."

"She can put our enemies to sleep"

"Only if she can get close enough. I can do that too anyway. My Kill Daggers can paralyze people of MUCH greater strength than her stupid spells can. Besides, Mages are a shifty lot. You need someone that you can trust. Like me."

Thorin put his face in his hands. "Gilias help me"

"Aw come on. You don't believe those old tales that say just because you can open a lock or find a trap you have to be some sort of evil opportunist. There are LOTS of honest people with skills like mine."

"Aye. Just don't be grouping yerself amongst them. Maybe I should take Nathaniel or Tiberius to protect us from the "honest" men you speak of."

"Can they find poison in your cup? What about traps?

"A Ranger can Detect Poison."

"But not as well as I can. I can track too. They can't Detect Traps though. I have yet to see a trap that I couldn't bypass."

"What about that snare two summers ago?"

"Irrelevant. I didn't see that one."

Thorin opened his mouth to say something but Vanth cut him off.

"The point is, a Cleric couldn't find it. Not without a LOT of spell energy. Something which I don't depend on. All I need are my wits. Which serve me very well."

The Inn got very quiet at that point and several people turned to Vanth but he didn't seem to notice. "Besides, I'm good in a fight too."

"Only if you take them by surprise."

"But that's what I'm GOOD at. My surprise attacks are easily as effective as THREE of your best shots."

"I don't know about three..... I still don't see why I should take ye over anyone else with your skills though. There's always Jean Michelle."

"HER? C'mon. We've been through a lot together...."

"Like Turley?"

"Does it always have to come back to Turley? I can watch your back just like in Turley."

"I can watch me own back."

"Take me so I can watch the REST of the team's back."

"It'll take a better reason than that."

Vanth sighed and lowered his head. "Take me because you're my best friend, I'm bored and I'm broke."

It was Thorin's turn to sigh. "We leave in the morning."

It was time for another great adventure.