Hello from far far away. I'm keeping company with an under-sweetened cup of coffee and a view of the inn that's- similarly not the best but reliably not bad. Anyway, I'd rather write from here than some terran hotel window overlooking a wet grey interstate. (Yes, I'm sure not all your vistas flood their window panes with tones of cement.)
Anyway, now that I've upset you, let me catch you up on things. The agitators I mentioned before seem to have gotten bored and moved on to something else. A few people will still approach me with the admonition that I should just “put it down”. I smile and nod vaguely. The status quo serves me fine for now.
I mention it though because all this recent non-violence thought has me wondering about the matter. As I said before, these folk just assume the beast is not sentient. If that were the case, then maybe release or put-down would be my only options. If not, then since I can't release a violent beast upon the townsfolk, maybe neither would be an option.
Now, I’ve slain thousands of monsters, including hundreds of dragons (just over two-hundred to be precise but it sounds better to just say “hundreds”). I’ve never felt bad about the slayings. It was always self-defense or in defense of others, well as far as I can recall anyway. I’m no expert on the philosophy of violence, but my conscience remains pretty clear on those cases. Mostly. Actually, when I learned of talking animals, that may have changed something. I haven’t even tried to slay a dragon since, so I have to wonder if, on some level, the dry spell is more than coincidence. I could stand to explore your realm's thought on non-violence. It might help me sort this out.
But not yet. My coffee is empty, and I need a refill. Feel free to buy me a cup.
-Pen