<span style="font-style: italic">So, yeah... sorry this one took so long to get out. I had some severe writers block and, to top it off, lost an entire completed post to auto-logout while I'd been writing it up. I hate using notepad and don't have word so I got a firefox addon called "lazarus" - hopefully that'll stop that from ever happening again and I can start posting more evenly here...</span><br/><br/>Trinara smiles - "Oh, of course! I wouldn't miss out on whatever Yvonne - and you - have planned for that sleepy little village for all the food in the world!" She stood up on her tiptoes, leaning forward to give Arcea a very friendly, unreserved hug. One of the things that made her even more pleasant to rub up against, in some ways, than Arcea's many other lovers was that she had a cutesy innocence to her hug - when her breasts bounced against Arcea's chest or her tummy rubbed up against her own for a fleeting moment of tingling contact, she knew it wasn't from a desire to get anything from Arcea - just out of pure affection.<br/><br/>Yvonne had packed up her equipment into a small rolling cart quite quickly. Apparently, the tent wasn't originally hers (she was vague on what had happened to the previous owner, though she did smirk). The bat walked at a languid pace but began to trail along after Celrie and Arcea, as did Trinara, who continued to natter to her and Arcea from time to time as they walked.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">These two are now NPC allies of Arcea and Celrie... they can be controlled in minor ways in posts, and are generally willing to do whatever minor requests you have for them. Until they get involved in combat their only pertinent stats are a d8 survival for Trinara and a d8 weirdscience skill for Yvonne.</span><br/><br/>Fortunately, the frost-dappled traveler shouting at Yasha and Thumper in the cargo bay didn't seem to notice them as they came around behind her... she was tall and broad-shouldered but had a nice figure under there. ((<a class="postlink" href="https://postimg.org/image/j8z07gv3r/">https://postimg.org/image/j8z07gv3r/</a>))<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Addressing Thumper's question:</span>She didn't appear to be any kind of anthropomorphic creature, and was mostly humanoid, resembling an elf - but there was an unnatural bluish tinge to her skin, and her eyes had a faint radiance... furthermore, she was a fair bit larger than a human, though not inordinately so. Celrie felt like she might be some kind of distantly related elf, but wasn't entirely sure.<br/><br/>"Hah ho hoh," the vengeance-driven sleigh-driver said, taking a few confident steps towards Thumper. "What an interesting and unexpected que-estion from such a cute, harmless looking little one! Hunting, yah... Perhaps you are talking about the frilly little outings where proper Taileton ladies go out to show off their fashionable petticoats and riding boots while taking pot-shots at some distant beast or so-called savage? In between sipping tea and nibbling on crumpets and extending their pinky fingers just so? That looks like the only kind of hunting you'd ever experienced - but it's good to see that you are so interested in knowing what the real swallow of victory looks like!"<br/><br/>Calmly, she reached into her pack and pulled out some dried meat rations, tossing them on the ground in front of her sleigh-tigers. They looked down and sniffed but stood obediently at attention until she snapped her fingers, at which point they suddenly lunged on the side of beef and gulped it down in a few bites. She raised a hand to her chest and gave it a pat. She had a particularly breathy, blustery way of speaking, putting great emphasis on every vowel she pronounced. "Many are the ferocious prey that I have run to the ground and put in the ultimate wrae-stling pin, oh yes! I won't ask if you've heard of me, that being a practice of egotists... but many, too, are the foolish, prideful, or dishonorable travelers and hunters that I have given the same treatment to, making them beg as I crush them inside of me."<br/><br/>She took a step forward and looked down at Thumper, now nearly within arms reach... "If you follow me, perhaps you will be fortunate enough to see it with your own eyes, yah? My honorless gutter-rat of a nemesis is around this land somewhere - no one has left all day. I bet that her personal airship is at that village up the mountain right now." she snorts in anticipation. "I'm tempted to use you as a spot of practice, hahh! This land is the domain of no one lady or house, the wilderness... So has it been every year I have passed through here. I doubt the laws of her soft, pampered empress's laws have much real reach out here. The truest law reigns, of strength of warrior's arm and wizard's charm!"<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">The village has just recently been actually granted to noble landholders - those being the PCs - so those from other lands could easily be unaware of this.</span><br/><br/>Before she can get too threatening to Thumper she then turns to Yasha. "Hohaahaha... if I were to stop and introduce myself to every lazy little tree-beast I crossed paths with, I'd not be half the warrior I am! Count yourself fortunate that I am in need of lodging and too tired to show you what a real 'insult' from Imelda Skradottr stings like!" she gives another cocky laugh with a toss of her head and taps herself on the chest again with a palm, indicating that she is referring to herself in third person. "And what about you? You speak as if you had any name worthy of respect yourself - a prospect I ve-ery much doubt, yeah?" She strikes a theatrical side-long pose and points an index finger at Yasha. "Watch yourself, whatever your name is! There is always more room on my Vengeance Itinerary! I brought it with me, yeah? Now then - if neither of you two pitiful little furballs has any useful advice to my quest, as opposed to more questions - stand aside! I'll find someone willing to offer a spot by the hearth for an honest coin or two."<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Imelda is being just as rude and socially unacceptable as she appears to be; by any standard, her conduct is a bit barbaric, and now that they've offered her a chance to apologize and she has refused, Yasha (at least - Thumper isn't a ruling noble here yet) would be well within her rights to challenge her or gulp her where she stands. Of course, she doesn't necessarily look like an easy target, either.</span><br/><br/>Outside, the hour is starting to grow late - soon the precipitous drop of temperatures that comes with nightfall will come. Accustomed to the humid seaside air of their main city, the folk of Taileton aren't good at gauging or dealing with the unpredictable weather here. The temperature has been above freezing for most of the day, but there are large, ominous, black clouds on the horizon, about 12 hours away.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">A threshhold 4 survival check will tell the players that it is likely to rain sleet within the next day or so - they will need to get to Catspaw quickly in the morning if they want to evade it and have a nice warm spot to ride it out. However, this means that the Duchess and her entourage - as well as the erratically-behaving Chief Marlust - might be sticking around slightly longer than originally planned, which might cause difficulties. This will, at least, give them a few days respite from any more unwelcome guests.</span><br/><br/>The skulking human who had been the target of Yasha's suspicion before has drifted away, swiftly but casually walking to the other end of the bay. He seems even more intrigued by Imelda than he was by Yasha, and pulls out a small notebook to write something down.