the Protector of the Small quartet is so good because it does the thing that stories and orchestras sometimes do where it starts chapter 1 with A Theme and then it just layers and layers that, with complimentary variations, until it's an entire symphonic orchestra playing, You have to look out for those who have less power than you. You HAVE to. You have to do it when they scratch and bite you, you have to do it when they're shy and avoid you, you have to do it when you're tired and when you're terrified. You have to do it when it's not at all urgent and as petty as birdseed, and when doing so means the loss of everything you have ever tried to build for yourself, or your death at the hands of those who should be your closest allies in this exact cause. You can't stop working toward it for a single moment ever. You have to look out for your half-drowned kitten, your birds, your ugly dog, your asshole of a horse, your even bigger asshole of a baby griffin. Your servants and your siblings, your classmates who kind of suck and your classmates who will become your best friends. You have to protect them with your sword and your shield, you have to use magic to heal and fight and keep off the rain, you have to hunt bandits and build houses and bridges and communities. You HAVE to. You have to look out for the soldiers under your command - which includes commanding them well, knowing their strengths and limitations, and never giving an order that they cannot obey. This, too, is your responsibility. You have to look out for your civilians, your refugees who are proud and obstreperous, for your bandits and farmers and children. You can arm them and teach them to look out for themselves, but you still have to look out for them. You may have true allies, but you can still never stop. You can never stop. You have to look out for them.
