Sprigg, when referring to the things he might have wanted at the time of meeting them, calls Percy Secrets. As the key to Ioun, Sprigg would not want Secrets, but at the time he also didn’t want Intelligence. He wanted Power, the Power to get out of his prison, mentally of course, before he could give them Intelligence. Never at any point did he talk to Percy for a length of time unless specifically addressed by Percy, never paying mind to Secrets unless Secrets payed any attention to him.
Oh wow, you wrote this just as I wrote the complete opposite! Cool.
Though I have to fundamentally disagree on most of the things you say about Percy and secrets. The fact that his full name and Whitestone ever mattered that way was because the narrative caused that to happen, and once it was apparent that it was going to become relevant, he told them all he knew about it.
Same goes for Orthax. Percy had no idea what was going on until Orthax literally appeared. Yes, the dream not being just that should have been apparent at some point. And that point was when he started smoking, the names vanished from the gun, and finally when Orthax manifested himself. All within a timespan of three days.
And he never actively tried to conceal any of that. He just didn’t know what was going on there himself, not to mention that Orthax was also seriously affecting his mental state and judgement at the time, something he admitted to in the extent he was capable of, and asked the others to be on the look-out for.
The point about Craven Edge is fair. That was pretty shitty of him. But that is another case in which Percy didn’t really lie when asked about it or tried to conceal anything, even bringing it up when Grog started acting strange about the skull. Also, he didn’t try to conceal it afterwards and tried to help in whatever way he could – same as Scanlan. Still, that one is fair as far as Percy being callous when it comes to knowledge is concerned.
The marriage was not only Percy’s secret to keep. We don’t know their reasons yet. But much like his name and personal trauma, those are secrets I think everyone is entitled to keep. You don’t owe anyone insight into your personal matters.
And you say that all of these things fucked the party over, yet the only thing Percy really is to blame for here/had any influence over was the Craven Edge situation. Whitestone could have been just as irrelevant as Scanlan’s mother’s name, depending on where the narrative took them. It wasn’t, so Percy explained it.
The marriage reveal would have been humorous or at least not even remotely as big of a deal as it is if the plot hadn’t exploded. And it didn’t really come out during the confrontation with Pelor, that still sounded like a betrothal, it came out when Scanlan forced the issue while Percy and Vex were completely content to just not to spare Vax and Keyleth whatever pain could be spared at this point.
So most of these things – Craven Edge excluded – were either very personal matters that Percy always did share once they became relevant, or was just simply never asked about.
Much in the same vein as Scanlan was never asked about his secrets (until he was, repeatedly actually). We don’t know what happened pre-stream, but it sure doesn’t seem like he volunteered any information on his background or mother. NO ONE in the group did, for that matter. The twins never mentioned their mother’s connection to Thordak, Keyleth only mentioned her visions and backstory as it became relevant, and Pike was the only one who knew about Grog’s backstory in regards to Kevdak until it became relevant. Anyone’s personal business has always been shared according to a “need to know” policy.
And if we are willing to extend this courtesy to everyone else, why not Percy?
In addition, saying that keeping his Suude business secret didn’t affect the group is also purely circumstancial. Consuming drugs before getting into a combat situation in which other people rely on you in not a harmless secret to keep. Neither is the extent of your dealings with who you assume to be criminal drug dealers. Sure, no one died directly because of that, but taking unknown substances before a combat situation is almost as callous as handing out a speaking sword.
And Scanlan’s secrets did harm the party, in a big way, and for a very long time. Everyone was positively devastated after he unloaded on them prior to his departure. More people were hurt when he concealed himself when he returned.
So in that regard, I don’t think the scales are tipped in either of their favor, really. And to be fair, I think Ioun is a less than ideal fit for either of them. Erathis is better for Percy but has somehow vanished from the narrative, and there are plenty other gods and domains more fitting for Scanlan than academical knowledge. His kind of intelligence is more related to streets than to libraries.
Overdressed & Underappreciated 