{{Somehow 'soon' turned into 'a week'. |3 Sorry about that.}}<br/><br/>{{I feel you Stealth; r/l just throws one thing after another.}}<br/><br/>{{Lerkur and Allie: PMs sent}}<br/><br/>{{Lerkur: eegh, its contageous x3 Here's some advice: before you post, go back and read what you've written and delete everything that's redundant or unnecessary. I do this every time, and often I find I can turn a rambling paragraph into one or two concise sentences. Also: no, Vigor has not worn off yet.}}<br/><br/><br/>(<span style="text-decoration: underline">recap</span>: The PCs arrived at inn, found a table, ordered some drinks. Chatted a bit with their newly met aquaintences, Jess, Soma and Yuki, to learn about them and about the town. Met the friendly elf Mindy, who was stranded in Armel after everyone in her last party was eaten.)<br/>(After days of marching and fighting in the unforgiving wasteland, this time was a nice reprieve for the PCs; they finally had a chance to relax and unwind a little.)<br/>(Then, inevitably, things got complicated again. Sen prayed for assistance and was taken literally, and the young deva who was dispatched to aid him arrived in a very conspicious burst of light. Meanwhile Kahmori, the resident womanizer/vigilante, took it upon himself to involve the PCs in his scheme to rescue a girl from a group of gullible merc preds.)<br/>(Within minutes, the first rescue was followed by a second: a blue haired girl who escaped from the menu of the busty drider. Now the PCs have two refugees in their custody.)<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><span style="text-decoration: underline">&lt;&lt;outside of the Inn&gt;&gt;</span><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Geno wrote:</cite>   So are you out lookin' for food, too?" </div></blockquote><br/>Nurkisi grins fangily. "Yes, Geno. I am. I'm quite famished, actually..." An awkward pause follows as the foxtaur stares down at him. She swallows a bit of excess saliva. "Nice thing about this town is, you never have to search very far to find a good meal..."<br/>"Ah, but you're a new arrival. You don't yet know all the best spots..." She looks up towards the entrance of the Jolly Barbazu, where she knows Geno's traveling companions are. "Don't bother looking for food in there--the prices are highway robbery!" She laughs, a rather cute musical sound.<br/>"Why don't you come with me?" Her large, floofy tail flicks from one side to the other and she pivots her lower body in place. "I'll give you a short tour, show you the sights, the fun places in Armel..." She starts to pad north, into the shadows from which she arrived; Wu follows close behind.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><span style="text-decoration: underline">&lt;&lt;inside of the Inn&gt;&gt;</span><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">*GLLORPLLGRRGLE*</span></span>says Leska's round belly, happily enjoying its latest snack. The prey's struggles have ceased, yet the drider is still in seventh heaven. She tenderly runs her fingers across the luscious curves of her torso and thinks about how the pitiful elf toy trapped inside is performing his final service to her.<br/><br/>"Huh...looks like she ain't naked afterall..." says a dwarven merc at the table. This finally draws the drider's attention away from her meal. She looks over at the angel and notes that she is now--inexplicably--decked out in battle attire and staring provacatively in her direction.<br/>...and standing by her side is a certain nebbish blue-haired youth... "--<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">What</span></span>!?!" Leska shouts, recognizing her property. "That's mine!"<br/><br/>With Gurst and the other two mercenaries watching on in amusement, Leska storms directly towards her wayward slave. Her shrinking (but still bloated) belly sloshes noisily with the movement. One unalert human doesn't step out of her way fast enough and gets kicked aside by a chitinous foot. He starts to protest, only to quickly clam up when he recognizes who kicked him.<br/>As the drider moves, she mutters a quick spell under her breath and anoints herself with a pinch of sparkling dust from a belt pouch.<br/>[she casts<a class="postlink" href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/stoneskin.htm">Stoneskin</a>]<br/>The dust coats her body in a thin layer, giving her skin a glittering sheen under the chandelier light.<br/><br/><br/><br/>She stops a few strides from the table (out of sword range) and sneers at Allie.<br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">What</span>are you doing, slave? Did I<span style="font-style: italic">tell you</span>you could go anywhere?<span style="color: brown"><span style="font-weight: bold">Go back to my table and wait there for your punishment!</span></span>"<br/>[Leska uses her<a class="postlink" href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/suggestion.htm">Suggestion</a>spell-like ability. Auralia's nimbus negates it.]<br/>Allie feels a familiar tingle down her spine as Leska once again uses that hypnotic voice on her. But unlike before, this time the girl feels feels no compulsion to obey.<br/><br/>Leska blinks, waiting. Then she looks back and forth from her slave to the angel, and to the others able warriors who are gathered around the polar bear. As she senses that her chances of quickly snatching Allie back are fading, her sneer twists into a furious glare that is hot enough to melt lead.<br/><br/>"You...so you think you can steal<span style="font-style: italic">my</span>property?" says Leska incredulously, standing up to her full height and puffing out her chest. "Just who do you think you're dealing with?"<br/>"I'll give you<span style="font-style: italic">one</span>chance to save yourself, you bitch." she says to Auralia. "Hand her over, and I'll forget this happened."<br/><br/>"Otherwise..." she carresses her domed midsection. On cue, her busy digestive tract broadcasts a deep, rumbling groan. "...come tomorrow morning, there'll be nothing left of you but a layer of fat."<br/>[Leska intimidate: 1d20(8)+15 +2(predatory instinct) +4(large) = 29; Auralia must oppose DC 29 with ECL+wisdom check or intimidate check, or become shaken]<br/><br/><br/><br/>Soma watches nervously, hesitant to say anything that might turn the drider's anger towards her. She is sympathetic to Allie, but is not the type to risk her own life to rescue a stranger. As the confrontation seems to inch closer to open combat, the egoist glances over at the bespectacled elf with a knowing look of concern.<span style="font-style: italic">This altruism business is dangerous...</span><br/><br/>Jess shares none of Soma's reservations; she rises from her chair and regards Leska with a confident smirk. She never liked the sadistic drider to begin with and would love to tell her off. She is tempted to do so, but holds her tongue to see how Auralia will respond.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>The squirrelfolk Lin flails in terror as the centaur easily plucks her off of the wall. Tiny claws, more suited for climbing than for combat, swipe at Rihyan's arms and chest to no effect.<br/>Then he speaks to her in a soft voice, and she is confused...it has been so long--too long--since anyone has spoken to her with such a kindly tone. All of the fight instantly drains out of her and she goes slack. "You...you're a friend?"<br/><br/><br/>They are approached then by her new owner, that snaggle-toothed canid with the wandering eyes.<br/><blockquote><div><cite>Kahmori wrote:</cite>Still hunched over, he peers up at the large creature, feigning a look of anger "I suggest y'drop her, boy. She's mine. I bought her fair and square."</div></blockquote><br/>Lin cowers against the centaur's chest, trusting him to defend her.<br/><blockquote><div><cite>Kahmori wrote:</cite>"Hey. Calm down. I'm a friend. Going to get you out of here, eh? Just...don't struggle. Don't run. Otherwise, someone else will catch you...and i'm not going to spring you a second time. </div></blockquote><br/>Incredibly, the fox then also speaks with a voice that is devoid of hunger or malice. Well...devoid of malice, at least. He does still look pretty hungry. But if he's telling the truth, then she is safe.<span style="font-style: italic">Safe...</span>It's almost too much for the exhausted youth to wrap her mind around. She was<span style="font-style: italic">so</span>close--just inches away--from going down that griffon's craw..<br/>She allows herself to be transfered into the "old" fox's arms and carried, without giving more than a token struggle.<br/><br/><span style="color: green"><span style="text-decoration: underline">[Experience]</span><br/>[Kahmori: 45,000+300 (rescued slave) = 45,300 xp]</span><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Meanwhile, at the bar, Sashi has made the mistake of being friendly to a drunken neko male; now she is stuck in a conversation with him. It is a dull and one-side conversation as he is basically relating his entire sad life story (his parents never loved him, he's a failure as a pred, he can't get a girlfriend, etc). Each time she tries to change the subject to something more interesting, he changes it right back. {{x3 charisma stat of 7}}