It's late afternoon, approaching evening. It's already getting dark; the sun sets early in Armel, into the shadow of the huge cliff wall to the west.<br/><br/><br/><span style="text-decoration: underline">&lt;&lt;stables&gt;&gt;</span><br/><br/>"(kobold)I'm looking for food. Always looking for food. I found some oat-crumbs." He points to the wooden-paneled area where he was searching before being startled into hiding.<br/>"Please, no eat me." he repeats. "I'm no good, all scales. I make you sick."<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><span style="text-decoration: underline">&lt;&lt;Jolly Barbazu&gt;&gt;</span><br/><br/>"Puime..." says Jess with tail low, eyes limpid. Despite her own outlaw lifestyle, she apparently truly respects the paladin; the subject is an emotional one for her.<br/>"She..."<br/><br/>"A good person..." says Soma "...A real shame, what happened to her."<br/>Soma puts her stein down and wraps an arm around Jess. The tipsy pair put their heads together and share a tender moment.<br/><br/>"Puime was one of Talloak's protectors." As niether of her friends answered the actual question asked, Yuki dryly explains. "Fought to defend the city--valiantly, from what I've heard, she cut one of the Pyyrn's arms off. But ultimately she fell with her city. The giants claimed her as loot, and sold to the cult."<br/><br/>Soma speaks darkly, her infernal heritage stirring in her veins. "They tried to recruit her, to make her<span style="font-style: italic">baatethnom</span>*..."<br/><span style="font-size: 84%; line-height: 116%;">[*-Infernal verb: "accept flesh sacrifice on a dark god's behalf". Knowledge(religion) DC 20: Nezibolge cultists are fond of rituals like these, which generate a lot of unholy energy that can be harnessed to empower evil spells or items. The more pure-hearted the participants in the sacrifice, the more energy that is generated.]</span><br/><br/>"--but her will was strong, and she refused." finishes Yuki. "They eventually lost interest and sold her to the Sogluyem, who probably ate her."<br/><br/>"No. She's alive." says Jess assuredly. "I've seen her. They got her black-collared, as...an attraction."<br/>The one-time gladiator shakes her head as she recalls her time in the arena.<br/>"She's a 'finisher'...when a fighter wins the fight but loses the crowd, or when the Soggies just don't like 'em, they beat the drums and send Puime out. And the crowd loves it, because they know they're about to see the punk go down kicking."<br/>The huskygal smiles very briefly at this thought, but then frowns at the other image in her memory: the painful sorrow in the collared dragongirl's eyes.<br/><br/>Jess meets Takal and Geno's confident gazes. "Do you think...Could you...rescue her?" the idea bubbles into her mind and slips off her tongue before she has a chance to think critically about it.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-style: italic">Jess</span>...." says an unsettled Yuki.<br/><br/>"But these guys are strong...look at them, they're not afraid of anything. They eat<span style="font-style: italic">worgs</span>for breakfast."<br/><br/>Yuki is displeased with where this is going. It's not that she<span style="font-style: italic">doesn't</span>want to rescue Puime (even in her cold heart, there is respect for the paladin--from a safe distance, of course). But her gut instinct, honed by years in the dangerous realm of organized crime, warns her that this is a fool's errand. Suicide.<br/>"There's a world of difference between a tribe of unwashed barbarians, and a professional slaver army."<br/><br/>The huskygal slumps a bit in her seat, hearing the wisdom in Yuki's words. She has seen the naga's frightening power first hand, and knows that those who underestimate it become scaly lumps in their coils.<br/>Yet in her heart, a flickering hope remains. Sitting in the presence of these ambitious strangers, she feels...<span style="font-style: italic">important</span>, for the first time in weeks, months even. Like she is part of something larger than her own selfish needs, larger than the numbing routine of<span style="font-style: italic">brawl, eat,</span>and<span style="font-style: italic">get drunk</span>.<br/>The empire of the 'P-word'...is not something she feels any loyalty whatsoever towards. She is a free spirit who follows her own rules and nobody else's. But this empire of chains that the slithering, double-crossing fiends and cultists are building...it's disgusting. If these strangers are serious about fixing things...then that's the side she wants to be on.<br/><br/>Soma is also intrigued by the idea, but for a different reason. She is a thrill-seeker and a reckless adrenaline-junkie. The prospect of running a fool's errand and surviving by the skin of her teeth...makes her skin crawl in a pleasurable way. Rescuing the friendly dragongirl and smiting a bunch of jerks, would just be side-benefits.<br/>"Hmm...with the<span style="font-style: italic">daseneuma</span>*," she points at the spiritually-gifted goblin, "We would have an edge. 'wouldn't hafta rely on elixirs."<br/><span style="font-size: 84%; line-height: 116%;">[*-Infernal noun: "fountain of life energy". A nick-name for someone who can cure wounds at a touch.]</span><br/>"D'you suppose you could eat a naga?" she playfully asks Rihyan.<br/><br/>"Somaline!" Yuki chastises her younger cousin. "Don't encourage her by saying 'we'! What these folk do is their own business, but<span style="font-weight: bold">We</span>came to this town to buy things, not to make enemies out of the Sogluyem."<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>An imp arrives with Rihyan's mead and relieves him of five copper.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>[X3 Character Haikus! X3]<br/><br/><span style="color: red">of dwarven resolve<br/>fearless bandit, mythril doe<br/>fiesty flame demon</span><br/><br/><span style="color: olive">the simple wisdom<br/>blade nor claw can touch his skin<br/>open palm meteor</span><br/><br/>apex predator<br/>answering prayers of the meek<br/>by claw, chomp and gulp<br/><br/><span style="color: green">wilderness watcher<br/>keeper of the Elders' craft<br/>in a world of chaos</span><br/><br/><span style="color: brown">a tiny kernel<br/>blossoms into holy light<br/>divine fortitude</span><br/><br/><span style="color: yellow">limitless hunger<br/>large maw, even larger heart<br/>soaring octopod</span><br/><br/><span style="color: violet">violet labyrinth<br/>thoughtful lass, with secret art<br/>elven redeemer</span><br/><br/><span style="color: white">alabaster fox<br/>pure of color and spirit<br/>lone beacon of hope</span>