It’s “li’l,” or maybe “lil,” but definitely not “l’il.” Don’t know why that bothers me, I guess because it’s such an easy typo to ignore until you think about it!

E-Merl spends a frame or two here finally coming to grips with the idea that his carelessness has got them all killed. Granted, it’s not like the other Peacemakers are immune to manipulation. Iwatani could’ve misled Sundar with some blather about a campaign to restore adventurers’ good name and thus safeguard the legacy of Byron and Brunhilde. He could’ve taken advantage of WAV’s whole “I am not of this realm, what are ‘ralds’?” dealio. He could’ve paid somebody to challenge Frigg to a kobold-smiting contest.

But he didn’t: he got E-Merl, the one active Peacemaker other than Syr’Nj who would normally be the toughest mark for a con job, not the easiest. I mean, this con was all about misdirection, something that E-Merl generally knows a bit about. And that makes it worse. As E-Merl sobers (notice he’s no longer slurring his words), he can’t hide behind the “no one could’ve seen this coming” excuse.