Imenry listened to the old man's words and while there was some wisdom in some of it, she didn't agree with everything he said. After all, he failed to take into account that several of their party members came from different backgrounds; such as Savio the Crow, used to working alone, herself a Mercenary, following no one's orders but her own, and those like the Chanter, Hilda or Raelias, who had experience with fighting, but nothing structured like fighting in a unit or a guard. It would be something they would not be familiar with, falling into formations and doing attack patterns, and some of those formations were so restrictive that they did not take into account a changing battlefield. Still, Imenry remained silent, listening to his words. She would take his words under advisement. He obviously had years of experience, and he'd fought many battles against the Darkspawn from what she'd gathered when she'd joined the conversation.
Beside her, Ashya asked for water and Imenry went to unhook the skin from her belt, but by the time she'd turned the girl was nodding off, asleep in the most awkward of positions and Imenry looked at her for a moment, realizing just how young she was and how this really wasn't the place for her and overwhelmed with a protective feeling. She exchanged a glance with Quintus and let a sigh slip from between her lips, taking a sip of the water she'd gotten out.
"On the one hand I agree with some of your suggestions. We certain do need to practice. Our mages and inexperienced could benefit from some basic self defense moves as well. They need to be more aware on the field. And we do need to learn to work as a unit. I think that can be accomplished if we perhaps break into teams at night, the experienced, teaching the inexperienced, sparring together and then staging mock fights against one another. We can rotate the teams so everyone learns to fight alongside everyone. As for tactics, basic ones will suit us, but we don't want to lock our people into set positions. The inexperienced will not know what to do if their position becomes unsafe. They need to know to be able to read their enemy, to move and to let us know if they're doing so. Communication on the battlefield, seeing one another, is very important. I've worked with mercenaries, men and women who didn't have formal training always. We don't know what kind of experience the others have, but I think everyone can bring something unique to the table."
She hoped Quintus understood what she was saying. She did see the wisdom in his words, but she didn't think that 100% traditional battle tactics would suit their party. They would need to be modified.