[mcman]

I don't think that offers a sufficient explanation for the issues with Athena or the larger issue over multiple characters. If she was really such a threat, then would they really be moving half of their group into the building where she lives? Apparently she's not enough of a threat that anybody thinks twice about seizing the building she stays in, but she is enough of a threat that they don't want to interact with her. That seems a bit incongruous to me. The fact that it's just for the most part assumed that she's happy to have other people in the inn suggests that she's not seen as someone who would oppose the group interest in any way. At the very least she should get some credit for tolerating this, and she hasn't done anything else to cancel that out yet.

Athena tried many times to seek out the group leaders to ask what the situation was, but she was blown off each time (at least three or four times), so how can she be expected to help if she's disregarded from the start? There are plenty of characters that aren't friendly but who are nevertheless popular IC, which supports my belief that it has to do with OOC reasons. Her behavior is realistic for someone who has been living alone in ruins for a while, and who feels a bit vulnerable. What's unrealistic is to expect that every character to join the group should do so without any reservations because that will negatively affect their character's IC popularity. Athena's situation just isn't different from that of any other character who joins the group enough to explain it in my view.