No time for weapon practice, I cannot fuck around with this concentration of brutes, I have to hack them down quickly. If I got a little more serious and switched back to the pick, my companions wouldn't all be disabled in one way or another. They're getting tore up here, and I'm getting a little worried about their survival to the next moon.
Especially the Dwarf, who seems to be the preferred target, so he was the first to lose use of a leg and an arm. At least now they're biting him where he's lost all sensation, and he's biting back. I'm still on the fence as to whether to welcome him into the wereclan. Everyone is exasperated with his argument, and I've even seen a tavern keeper go enraged with him. Unless I'm itching for argument myself, I just roll my eyes and flatter him whenever he starts his bullshit with me. But he's always good for practicing my persuasion and flattery, and getting my dose of argument whenever I need it.
I staked my claim to a lair of 34 brutes while they were away, and now I'm playing King of the Mountain with them for the rest of the morning. Ambushing them in singles and small groups is much safer than invading their homes, and much easier than scrambling around their hunting routes for them. Digging their interiors wider makes them more manageable when they do get inside, fortifications give me a good view of their approach and rooftop exits give more directions to attack quicker. The defense is rather porous compared to a fortress, but it works while the enemy is scattered rather than invading as a unit. But if hypothetically an organized group attacked it, I have the squad flexibility to get out and flank them from surrounding terrain.