“Oh, uh…” Avis flushed slightly at Magnus’ sincere words. “Thanks, but it’s really no problem.” She scratched the back of her head. “Just a joke, you know I’m not…” She trailed off, suddenly wishing the earth would open up beneath her. Their latest aggressor appearing ending up being a welcome distraction. She stood up in the carriage and almost followed Magnus, but decided to hang back, in case the man ended up having allies and the carriage needed defending. This was a fairly common ploy by robbers- distract them with one big threat and then surround the caravans while they were busy dealing with it. Then strike. She scanned the treeline, unable to detect any movement. Regardless, Avis rested her hand on the hilt of her sword and gave half an ear to the conversation, hoping to catch some keywords that might be code to strike. He was an unusual looking bandit, though, if he was one.<br/><br/>Larteis stared in surprise as Sheo crossed in front. The Oghren didn’t seem to have any fear of the man. Then again, she looked to be an even match for most threats. He anxiously scratched his chin.<br/><br/>“If he attacks, I’m lighting him on fire,” Bellant muttered, snapping his jaws threateningly.<br/><br/>“You’ll likely light the caravans on fire too if you do,” Larteis whispered. Bellant snorted loudly in annoyance, but Larteis tuned him out. He was trying to remember any spells he might know that could be offensive. He’d managed something earlier but that had been mostly by accident. Plus, that man had died, even if it hadn’t been directly killed by the spell. Larteis didn’t want to kill anyone. “Larteis,” he said, waving a hand in greeting, since they were giving out name. “We’d love to share more details about our travels if you would put down your weapons.”<br/><br/>“Don’t give him your name,” Bellant hissed.<br/><br/>Larteis winced. “Too late.”<br/><br/>-<br/><br/>At Tarkus’ remark, Vasma sighed slightly. She tended to unsettle people less than Tarkus, but only by a small margin. Regardless, they didn’t take her nearly as seriously as they took him. “Very well,” she said. “Let’s find a place to stay that isn’t completely awful, shall we?” They continued down the road, the villagers parting in front of them without request. This at least was nice- Vasma never liked ducking around people.<br/><br/>After locating a small but well-kept looking end, Vasma entered and gave it a quick scan. Conversation briefly froze at their entrance, but people quickly returned to uneasy small talk. It looked like there weren’t too many noisy drunks, and the place was clean. She nodded and strode up to the counter. “Two rooms,” she said. The counter was awfully tall.<br/><br/>The receptionist stared at Tarkus openly. “I don’t know if we have a bed big enough.”<br/><br/>“Then look,” Vasma said, exasperated. The receptionist opened her mouth to reply, then instead nodded and slipped away. It wouldn’t be the first time Tarkus would be out of luck. He often broke beds as well- maybe if they were made of one of those trees he had been rambling about it wouldn’t be such an issue.