{{Very sorry this update was so long in the making. You could have downloaded an HD movie over a 56k modem in that time X3 or a couple of movies X3. I had a bout of writer's block; it felt as though my vore muse had left me. And at this important junction in the campaign, with three new PCs, many new NPCs and an emerging enemy...I wanted to get things right. I'm a perfectionist like that, it's one of my flaws. Fortunately this was only a passing condition, and my vore muse has since returned to me more perverted than ever >;3 so my plans can move forward}}<br/>{{I thank you all for your patience. *¬.¬ face @ the centaur* Let's continue.}}<br/><br/><br/>{{Nice work again, stealth}}<br/><span style="color: green"><span style="text-decoration: underline">[Experience]</span><br/>Sashi: +500 bonus = 61,187 xp</span><br/><br/>{{A reminder: looted weapons that aren't wanted can be bartered for desired items or gold.}}<br/><br/>{{We can continue without Garz for now. Sen is quiet and reclusive; for the goblin to go silent for a period of time and draw no attention to himself would be nothing unusual.}}<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>The door next to Yuki opens, and the third member of her party emerges from the smoky interior of the smithy. Like the tiefling girls (and Sashi), this third girl appears at a glance to be human; only two cosmetic features reveal her heritage: her floofy curling tail, and the triangular ears that poke out from her long brown hair. She wears tight shorts and a red silk halter top [Chrrou, if he looks, perceives a strong abjuration aura in the silk] with upper buttons left open to reveal a hint of cleavage.<br/><br/>"Check it out!" says the huskygal to her friends as she strikes a sultry pose. Her body is in peak physical condition: legs, arms and abdominal muscles all toned to stone-hardness. She walks with the confident swagger of someone who is ready and eager to hurt you if you annoy her. Yet, in maintaining all of this brawn, she has sacrificed none of her feminine grace. She still has a luscious set of curves, a narrow waist, a rear that make heads turn when she sashays, and--usually the first place a male's eyes go--a pair of pert breasts that fill her shirt and strain the top button to its limit.<br/>[One comeliness nutrion grants a +1 bonus on charisma-based checks against sexually receptive characters. Jess has acquired five of them.]<br/><br/><br/>Soma admires her friend's new top. "Oh, Jess, it's gorgeous! You look really hot, like really."<br/><br/>"That's impressive." says Yuki. "It doesn't even look like armor."<br/><br/>Jess turns to regard the unknown dragonfolk and centaur.<span style="font-style: italic">New preds on the block...who are they with?</span>"Heya!" she says brightly. "You guys new?"<br/><br/>"Yeah, they just arrived from the highway." says Soma. "Had a run-in with the wogs* just as soon as they got in. That beast, you know, the one that ate Helsne?"<span style="font-size: 75%; line-height: 116%;">{{*Soma's derogatory name for the Heodo, not a mispelling of "worg"}}</span><br/><br/>"You mean Kalsh?" says Jess, her ears perk in alarm at his mention. Just days ago she had watched the cruel pred devour her friend alive, and had only barely survived that encounter without becoming worgchow herself.<br/><br/>"Yeah, the really big one. These guys<span style="font-style: italic">smacked</span>the crap out of him, and the whole gang! Like--WHOSH!--SLAM!--CLUNK!" she energetically reenacts the fight with her own fists.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">They killed him?</span>Jess sizes up Geno and Rihyan with her eyes (not suspecting that it was Sashi who did it), then looks to the pile of bloodied loot and to a Heodo camp that is still reeling from the loss. She doesn't see Kalsh, but with Rihyan's taut, gurgling belly it doesn't take a DC 20 intelligence check to figure out where he went.<span style="font-style: italic">That's some serious voracity...</span>She eyes the centaur with a mixture of admiration, pred envy, and a hint of fear.<br/>"Well good riddance." she laughs. "Those wogs smelled bad anyway."<br/><br/>"Amen to that." says Yuki. The tall, cloaked girl steps away from the wall and looks up at the sun--a bright area in the haze. "Well, it's already late afternoon. And we aren't drunk yet."<br/><br/>Soma and Jess grin at their friend's dry humor.<br/>"Yeah I hear they have a remedy for that up at the Jolly Barbazu."<br/>"Then let's go!"<br/>The three young women head northwest towards the Inn.<br/>"Come on with us!" says Soma to the party. "I'll pick up your tab, Sashi,--<span style="font-style: italic">if</span>you can beat me."<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Takal hears the sound of small humanoids creeping behind him, and sees movement among the boulders in his peripheral vision.<br/>"(Kobold whispering)...A man..." "One human!" "Just one!" "No steel...!"<br/>Takal hears faint, unintelligible yapping voices. If he has ever encountered kobolds before, he instantly recognizes the sound.<br/><br/>[If Takal looks at them:] They dissapear, taking full cover behind the rock. More yapping.<br/><br/>[If Takal ignores them and continues to the Inn:] The haze clears as Takal steps closer, and he can see the Inn in detail. The structure is solidly built as far as Inns go, as it was intended to double as a fortification in a pinch. The bottom two floors are built of reinforced masonry and the third floor, which looks like a recent addition, is made of wood. All of the many windows are lit and show signs of activity within.<br/>On the southern side of the Inn is an entrance doorway with empty hinges. The entrance door itself, splintered neatly in half, lies on the muddy ground nearby. Even before Takal reaches the doorway, he can tell from the din of voices and from the smell of blood in the air that the room is crowded with preds and their meals. Inside, Takal spots a menagerie of species: gnolls, ogres, a 12-foot tall griffonmorph, spidertaurs, nagas, bearfolk, and bullywugs in addition to a slew of humans and demihumans.<br/>To the north is a paved pavillion where extra tables, chairs and kegs have been set up to handle the overflow of customers.<br/><br/>Just inside the doorway and to the right is an imp sitting on an iron pedestal. The tiny fiend unfurls a scroll in his hands and looks at Takal suspiciously. A number of other patrons of the inn also glance by reflex to the door to size up the one entering. [if Takal can make a Diplomacy or Intimidate check to make a certain kind of first impression]