<div style="text-align: center"><a class="username" data-user-id="6997" data-username="Traveler" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/6997/">Traveler</a> <a class="username" data-user-id="6169" data-username="Purplefairydust" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/6169/">Purplefairydust</a> <a class="username" data-user-id="1190" data-username="Chrystal Dark" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/1190/">Chrystal Dark</a> <a class="username" data-user-id="9388" data-username="Anansi" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/9388/">Anansi</a> <a class="username" data-user-id="8638" data-username="promethean" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/8638/">promethean</a> <a class="username" data-user-id="288" data-username="Flannel King" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/288/">Flannel King</a>​</div><br/><span style="font-family: 'Didact Gothic', 'sans-serif'">The table certainly started to fill up more and more as time stretched on, Videl hadn’t expected it, but the more the merrier as the saying went. He was just trying to be as subtle as possible when he introduced himself and his companion, gauging everyone’s reactions to his questions, their reactions to one another, how they entered to begin with...so on and so forth.<i> ‘Quite the cast of characters…’ </i>he thought to himself, fingers going to undo the string that kept the large paper rolled up, that could work in his favor, or be his downfall. When push came to shove it was every man for himself, and while none of these strangers <i>looked</i> as though they were a liability, they could easily <i>become </i>one. He allowed himself to just listen for the moment, let Eiris do all the talking, as she’d shown him during their past two weeks together that she was excellent and feeling people out and deciding if they were worthwhile or not. Although her opinion was heavily biased at times.<br/>
<br/>
She seemed to like Draya so far, probably because the woman didn’t deny the request to share food, and when Zalek spoke, she propped her chin up on her hands and listened to what he had to say, even laughing when he hissed at the mead’s flavor and labeled it poison. <i>“If you think that’s bad, you’d ought to try the stuff in the places on the outskirts of town. Makes that seem like the King’s stash itself.”</i> she made a mock-thinking face, <i>“Or, what used to be the King’s stash, suppose it’s the Prince’s now, if he hasn’t kicked the bucket.”</i>  Videl’s face became exasperated for a moment, and he almost told Eiris that no one knew if Prince Casimir was dead or alive yet, but then Delilah was speaking up, in that foreign, almost unintelligible tongue of hers, and it seemed everyone was stopping to listen so they wouldn’t misunderstand a word, as it was already proving challenging enough to put together what she was saying. The knife throw though, all things aside, was definitely impressive.<br/>
<br/>
After digesting it and then running it through his brain, Videl nodded thoughtfully, “Well. I won’t expect you to fight, but if no one’s going to be running to your aid to help you, should you find yourself between a rock and a hard place. That’s why I’m laying out the dangers for all of you now.” Videl much preferred if they’d back out here, he could always head to the next town with Eiris and scout for travelers there. Sure it’d push him a bit behind schedule, but he favored that over someone in this current group realizing this was not the journey for them while they were traversing the Badlands or trudging to Javelins Keep. He learned quite a bit about dead weight during his years as a knight, and in combat, or any stressful situation, nothing was worse than that.<br/>
<br/>
He was just about to roll the paper open to reveal the map when Sylvia was speaking, and he took pause, brows furrowing just a bit as she spoke. Now, had he not been accustomed to Eiris’ seemingly <i><span style="font-family: 'Didact Gothic', 'sans-serif'">never-ending</span></i> back-talk, her words might’ve almost soured his expression completely. Instead, he rolled his shoulders back and shrugged, just a bit. “You don’t have to give me a reason why you joined, I was only curious, but it isn’t that important. As long as you can hold your own, I’ve got nothing else to say. For now at least.” He made a mental note to keep an eye on her during the coming days, until he knew she was trustworthy. The way her personality seemed to flip back and forth without much warning could be a problem later on. Or...going by the way Eiris had ceased in her movements, could be a problem right now. <br/>
<br/>
Eiris turned her gaze on Sylvia very slowly when she addressed her for the second time, blinking once, then twice as a smile stretched across her face, <i>“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not looking for you to find me attractive then, isn’t it?”  </i>She cooed, pushing her hair behind her ears, <i>“You’re paler then I am, as well, so I really don’t think you have any room to talk, </i>honey<i>.”</i> She made sure to enunciate the word ‘honey’ with a sugary-sweet, almost mocking tone, to emphasize how she didn’t appreciate the little pet name. Was this <i>really </i>the best Videl’s notice could conjure up? If so, they were going to be in for one rocky, unfortunate ride. Maybe <i>doomed </i>was a better descriptor. Her ears had perked up when Zalek said--in so many words--about being much older than most of the people near and around the table, however, but she hadn't gotten to address it before the Janus-faced blonde had said her peace. If Sylvia had an abrasive personality, Eiris welcomed it; she found that it was much more fun to watch people fall when they built themselves up on higher pedestals.<br/>
<br/>
Videl, however, didn’t want any fights or shouting matches breaking out here. That wasn’t his goal and it wasn’t what he came here to do. If everyone couldn’t swallow whatever pride they arrived with for the task at hand then no one would be getting anywhere. “Alright, alright. Close your mouth, Eiris. No one wants to hear thinly-veiled insults being tossed back and forth. We’ve already been here longer than I’d like to be…” He’d been in the middle of running one hand down his face--while Eiris rolled her eyes and went back to re-braiding a few chains of jewels into her hair--when a voice was speaking up.<br/>
<br/>
“A good scout?” His eyes turned to look at Will, and he lowered his hand, chewing that one over for exactly half a second. “Works for me. If you can help me, I’m sure I can help you, and…” He looked past Will Riot, at the man--not Halfling--standing behind him, who’d introduced himself as Haafmun, and declared pretty straightforward-ly that he was sticking with Will. “...Haafmun, was it? Both of you are welcome to join, and since asking for more motives doesn’t seem to be working as well as I intended, I’ll go ahead and bite the bullet, and tell you all mine--” <i>“--Ours.”</i> Eiris chimed in, lips stretching into a faux-innocent smile when Videl cast her a slightly annoyed look. “Ours. <i>Right</i>.” With an almost nonexistent sigh, he pulled the string completely off, letting the paper start to unravel on it’s own. </span><br/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Didact Gothic', 'sans-serif'"><div class="bbImageWrapper js-lbImage" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-single-image="1" data-src="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/uanenoa-map-1-jpg.94341/" title="Uanenoa Map 1.jpg">
<img alt="Uanenoa Map 1.jpg" class="bbImage lazyload" data-src="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/uanenoa-map-1-jpg.94341/" data-url="" data-zoom-target="1" height="600" src="data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='800' height='600' viewBox%3D'0 0 800 600'%2F%3E" style="" title="Uanenoa Map 1.jpg" width="800"/>
<noscript><img alt="Uanenoa Map 1.jpg" class="bbImage" data-url="" data-zoom-target="1" height="600" src="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/attachments/uanenoa-map-1-jpg.94341/" style="" title="Uanenoa Map 1.jpg" width="800"/></noscript>
</div></span>​</div><br/><span style="font-family: 'Didact Gothic', 'sans-serif'">Videl began to roll it out slowly, Eiris dropping her hands from her hair and taking the other side, opening it the rest of the way to reveal what looked to be a hand painted map of Uanenoa, certain areas more worn than others, and a few had seemingly nonsensical markings near them. The city they were currently residing in, Evidalier, had a thin black ‘X’ drawn over it, lines leading from the city to several towns much further away. Videl waited until the map was lying flat on the table for everyone to see before he opened his mouth to speak. “I’m personally inviting all six of you to join us.” He said sternly, and his choice of words might have almost seemed strange, given how bluntly he said them. Of course, there was a reason for that. Eavesdropping wasn’t on the agenda, and with so many interesting folks at the table, any old passerby was bound to become curious, but, having realized this beforehand, Videl came up with a work-around, and he was looking to Eiris then.<br/>
<br/>
The redhead casually glanced over her shoulder, then looked back to the paper, exhaling before she spoke.<i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(136, 80, 213)"> “Anyone who’s still listening in on this conversation that hasn’t been explicitly invited by Videl will…”</span></i> She wiggled her eyebrows, <i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(136, 80, 213)">“...tie stones to their ankles and jump into the sea.”</span></i>  “Eiris.” Videl gave her a humorless frown, and she rolled her eyes, <i>“What? You want them tailing us, or worse, trying to beat us to our goal?”</i> Upon his lack of a response, she huffed dramatically, <i>“Fine. Fine. Have it your way.”</i> Clearing her throat, she started again in her sing-songish tone, <i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(136, 80, 213)">“All eavesdroppers will lose any memories or recollections of today, from sunup to sundown.”</span></i> She pursed her lips at Videl after she finished, <i>“Happy now?”</i><br/>
<br/>
Videl ignored her, which seemed to be a recurring theme with them, and then addressed the rest of the group again. “I’ve been hired by Lord Aeldredus to locate Prince Casimir. He’s offered me more than a hefty amount of gold for doing so, and that gold will be split evenly amongst the seven of us, as Eiris has expressed a lack of interest in it. We’re under a time constraint as well, with only a few months to do this, and limited information. If you happen to have an ulterior motive that you complete while travelling with us, and then wish to go your separate way, I won’t stop you. <i>However</i>, the gold won’t be given to you until <i>after </i>the prince is located, so you’ll be forfeiting your share of the spoils should you not see this through ‘till the end.” <i>“Or if you die.”</i> Eiris interjected with a whistle, smiling again. <br/>
<br/>
“So,” Videl continued, “You can make up your minds now, you can back out too, I don’t care. I’ve laid it out for all of you to consider, but you won’t have all day. We need to leave Evidalier before nightfall.” There were a few things Videl had left out, like <i>why exactly </i>he was searching for Prince Casimir, why Aeldredus had approached him specifically, why Eiris didn’t need or desire the gold, and why they had only so many months to find the prince, but he did so purposefully. If none of their potential travel members wanted to be entirely forthcoming, Videl himself saw no reason to be either.</span>