(( Wooo, those perception rolls!<img alt=":D" src="./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" title="Very Happy"/>Not bad!! So, you all know you have some 'noncombatants' with you that have jobs other than rushing off into combat. As previously mentioned, these characters *WILL* provide benefits, but it's kinda up to you to make sure they don't end up as dinner. This could be telling them to get scarce or whatever! Now, that being said, noone is defenseless, and everyone CAN fight...some are just way more vulnerable than others! You'll see some of the benefits that characters like Cyria's companion can provide during the first rest period! Noone is useless!<br/>Also, in attacks and actions between NPCs, I won't be posting the rolls, unless it's requested. Pretty much not interested in filling up my entire post with NPC rolls. x3 ))<br/><br/>((Also, there's a little change in present-tense to past-tense here, sorry if it's a confusing switch! Just trying to decide which style I like writing in more! x3 ))<br/><br/>The appearance of the two women in the pathway ahead prompts Meera to sidle a little big closer to Alura, wrapping her arms around the fairy's midsection and - as she'd done before - leaning down just enough to take the tip of her ear into her mouth, chewing and suckling on it nervously. As sharp as her little teeth were, the sensation of her tongue and the softness of her lips suckling so gently was like something out of a dream, easily counteracting the somewhat discomforting sensation of her little teeth nipping down against the fairy's sensative ear "Mmf...bandits...? Ergh, two fights today...? Mmmff, this sucks..." She murmurs around little bites, gazing intently at the duo ahead on the road, seemingly quite oblivious to those hidden in the trees on either side. At least, until Johan points them out.<br/><br/>Needless to say, when he does, she slurps come faster.<br/><br/>Anastasia also sidles in behind Alura, though goes one step further and slips behind Meera as well, making sure she is well covered from any direct attack, at least from the front 'Shhhh, it's okay Meera! They're just crummy bandits - we can scare them off!' Yumina, overhearing the comment, simply rolls her eyes, clearly deciding that not saying whatever was on her mind was the best course of action.. Whatever the case, the mercenary group had decided to bring Meera along for SOME reason, but what that reason is, who knew - they seemed to know of her combative abilities, but as of yet, noone had really SEEN it.<br/><br/>Johan's first step forward actually draws a sort of quirky smile from Makisa, her brows lifting a little bit in amusement "Oh, y'coming to pay your tab now are--" Is all she manages to say before Johan dives headlong into his spiel, the very description of what his night might entail if the bandits didn't just step aside and let him and his group through. That, though, was not the worst part - it was actually pointing out the various locations many of the other bandits were hiding, their cover clearly broken.<br/><br/>"W...wha..?" Makisa croaks nervously in response, her eyes widening at the rather...vivid descriptions of what her fate might be, should she choose to continue on with her little plan of robbing the tired and potentially injured mercs blind. Shifting her eyes from Johan, the wide-eyed human girl gives Sasara a good once-over, swallowing the lump that had suddenly developed in her throat. Eaten...by a naga? Ugh, the thought made her shiver. What made her shiver even MORE, though, was the thought of getting eaten by a SPIDER. Shifting her gaze from Sasara to Cyria, Makisa shrank back a single step. What if they somehow got lucky? The numbers were on the side of the bandits, but...what if they managed to take her, somehow? She had no idea how human-sized spiders ate, but getting stuffed into her thorax sounded every bit as unpleasant as having her insides liquified and drained out...<br/><br/>"Ha...haha...! Y-you.." Again, a little lump travels down her throat from another rather nervous swallow "..Think you scare m-me?! We outnumber your little b-band...I t-think the toll just increased to...to um...15 gold..." Clearly, what Johan had said had rattled her - she'd even misspoken about the price of the 'toll' increasing...from 20 to 15. Clearly, though, her heart was no longer quite so 'into it' as she had been before, and though her hand still hovers over her weapon, there's a very slight shake to it...<br/><br/>(( Might not be in the rules, but I'm gonna consider Makisa 'shaken' for...a while! x3 How long, I dunno ,but she'll get the penalty for as long as feels appropriate! Was a good intimidate roll, and a good intimdate in itself!))<br/><br/>With the majority of the bandit's locations called out by Johan, there is a general silence from the thieves, interspersed with more than a little embarrassed coughing, and a rather punctual "Oh, oops. There!" From the pig-girl who flops around in the bush a little bit (making an awful racket), only to finally tuck her backside further into the undergrowth. It does actually manage to hige her better, but...well, EVERYONE pretty much knew exactly where she was by that point, so it hardly mattered "Hidden!"<br/><br/>"Did...did you SERIOUSLY just call me cheesy? REALLY?!" The rat-girl pipes up, an incredulous tone in her voice "Y'know what? Rats don't only eat cheese, ya jerk. So, how about this...we just forget the toll, an' I cram your worthless hide down my throat. Only thing humans is good for - padding curves. Is only the natural order, after all..!"<br/><br/>"What?!" Mikasa exlaimed, whirling upon her rodent companion, whom simply shrugged in response, ammending her statement with a 'Uh, right...cept for you."<br/><br/>"...Did he just say we were sleeping together?" The animal-girl (Perhaps a cat of some sort?) murmured down to what was clearly her sibling below, whom had the most silly grin on his face "Yeah. Phbbt, I'm totally out of your league-grrk!" The little verbal jest earned him a boot to the top of the head, the catgirl leaning down just enough to scrap the top of his head with her heel"<br/><br/>"Owww! Whatcha do that for?! Jeez, no wonder they saw us, you stick out like a sore thumb...and did he make fun of my eye? EY! JACKASS! THAT'S NOT FUNNY! Can you believe this guy? C'mon I might be sensitive about it, sheesh."<br/><br/>Rolling her eyes, the female sibling knocked an arrow into her bow and drew back the string to a half-draw, clearly ready for whatever might happen...if they were, indeed, forced to come to blows. Still, it was up to Makisa and Ruli...<br/><br/>When Alura slips into the conversation, Makisa seems to calm down just ever so slightly, her cheeks actually flushing at the rather strange compliment coming from someone she was clearly trying to rob "Pretty? F-first it's getting eaten, now it's pretty? I...I..." Not expecting the berry at all, it plinks harmlessly off the front of her chest, dropping to the ground without so much as a single sound. Gazing down at it in a mixture of surprise and confusion, Makisa continues "I...are we sure these are even the right people?"<br/><br/>"Yeah, they are the right people!" Ruli, the ratgirl, bites back in response, pulling a small handful of SOMETHING out of her spellpouch "Lea saw them leave town. An' look, here they are right back, jus' before sundown. Get it? Got it? Good." Clearly, Johan's little comment on 'cheesy' had struck a chord with the ratgirl. The berry offered by Alura, though, she actually catches...sniffs once, twice...and then tucks away inside of her spellpouch, a coy little smirk on her face "Oh, that'll make some nice flavoring. Thanks, sweety!"<br/><br/>The robed man, on the other hand, doesn't say a single audible word. His lips are clearly moving, but none of the group is able to hear what he is saying....<br/><br/>((DC 16 perception to see his fingers moving EVER so slightly within those nice, voluminous robes!))<br/><br/>((Also, Johan...needs to make A DC 14 Will save, or be 'Charmed'. This is a tense situation, and though I'm not giving the +5 for threats and stuff, if Johan fails by less than 5, I'll rule the charm is kinda...a partial charm. Play that out as it seems fit. x3 ))<br/><br/>...And Alura's berry ends up thunking off his robe, no movement at all made to catch the delectable little treat. He seemed distracted by something..<br/><br/>Alura's next berry - tossed to the scorpion girl - is caught at the end of a little dagger. The girl sniffs it once...then flicks it off to the side, clearly uninterested "Berries?" Her accent was thick, and though she was understandable, it was only with intentional listening that her words could be made out fully "I eat no berries. Meat only. Eech. Berries. Maybe toss me your sister, yes? You said little fairy was? This is much for fitting - and filling - meal." Anastasia, upon hearing this, presses herself up a little more tightly against Meera's back, whispering "Ew, scorpion..no."<br/><br/>The berry tossed to the pig-girl ends up plopping to the ground a solid foot in front of her bush....but it takes all of a second for her hand to slip out, snag the berry, and pull it back into her bush with a gentle 'rustle', followed by the sounds of furious chewing, and a soft, satisfied gulp "Ahhhh...Hadri, if you don't want your berry, give it to me! They're tasty!"<br/><br/>The Scorpion just rolled her eyes, keeping her attention focused upon the group waylaid in the road.<br/><br/>The female cat in the tree doesn't relinquish her grip on her bow to catch her own berry, but that does not stop her bother situated below from catching it AND his, both of which instantly find their way into his mouth "Mmf! Ish guud! Bet oo had shum, huh shis?" Again, his only response is a boot to the top of his skull, making his ears flatten in displeasure.<br/><br/>Finally, the orc seems a little surprised by the slight compliment from both Johan AND Alura, and though she just bats the berry away with her little shield, she nonetheless does say "Oh...well, thanks!" In response "But, um...yeah, we're still totally robbing you, okay? No hard feelings. I just promise, I'll rob you LESS hard than I normally would, kay?"<br/><br/><br/>Cyria's own interjection is met with another uncomfortable look from Makisa, whom clearly has no desire to get anywhere near to the spider who is equivalent to her own body size "Eh..heh...look, spider. Just toss up the gold, an' we'll let you past. We know you're loaded, you came from one of those wells. We heard the stories!"<br/><br/>Yumina, surprisingly enough, has been rather silent for the majority of the exchange. Yet, at a glance, Cyria can practically see the brooding catgirl's desires starting to bubble to the surface, and sure enough, directly referencing her is just about all it takes for her to draw her sword, the tell-tale 'Shnnk' of the weapon being drawn from it's scabbard splitting the air "Damn right Spider. Uh, I mean Cyria. Listen here, you buncha mewlin' cubs. This lot done stabbed me. Made me cough up the best gods-all-be-damned meal of my life. Took what little gold I had. Completed the job that would GIVE ME MONEY TO LIVE ON FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS!" Her mild, dangerous tone quickly gives rise to something nearing a roar, her teeth bared in obvious anger over her predicament and losing out on her pay "So, where does that leave me, huh? Sleeping in the bloody streets? Scrounging food outta the trash?! No. You know what it DOES leave me? Armor. A sword. An' the will to use both. So, here's what i'm gonna do. First one of ya I get ahold of...I'm gonna eat. Right? And I'm gonna enjoy every second of it. That covers the food. Second one, I'm gonna bloody take every last bit of glint off your corpse and sell it for a room for the night. Get it? Maybe have enough to get that crazy fairy something pretty to go around her neck. No intention to take prisoners, though, ya get me? So! Either you bloody let us by, or we're gonna-- you know what? To heck with that! I'm robbing you now. How about all of YOU, give ME all your gold! How's that? Then we'll let you go!" It's hard to tell if Yumina is working herself up into a rant or not, but her blood is clearly boiling. Admittedly, she is not in perfect condition - while a small portion of her wounds had been healed up earlier, she still sported the nasty gash left upon her by Johan, and just a very slight amount of the acid-damage on her hand left there by Cyria's acid ball.<br/><br/><br/>Needless to say, the roaring catgirl invokes another brief amount of silence in the bandits...<br/><br/>*********************************************************************************************************<br/><br/><br/>So engrossed is the main force of the bandit party in the going-ons in the middle of the road, only one really has the sensibility to take stock of their surroundings - the catgirl in the tree, just a few feet off the ground. It's not that Tom makes a mistake by any means, his speed, mingled with his ability to remain quiet at such a speed, is nothing short of something near magical in nature in and of itself. However, just as he passes between two trees - a spot where he'd pretty well forced to be exposed - the catgirl's ears perk, and she jerks her head in his direction, her bow lifted and at the ready.<br/><br/>Had he been a single quarter-second slower, she might have seen his tail disappearing between the trees, or seen the faint rustle of a single branch he nudged on the way past. Unfortunately for her - perhaps even more unfortunate for his intended target - though her ears swivel to and fro to pick up any sounds she may have missed, Tom's presence remains a mystery, and it's only a few seconds before she seems to relax a little bit, turning back towards the group blustering about upon the road.<br/><br/>Picking his way through the trees and underbrush without so much as a sound, the green-furred canine closes the distance to Makisa and Ruli, getting within what would equate to a short run to reach them. Even from a distance, it's easy to see what the ratgirl has hidden away in her hand; a tiny bit of honeycomb that looked like it still contained a bit of honey. Some sort of spell component to be sure, but for what spell was unclear. The human woman, even from the back, looked surprisingly enticing - her long legs ended at a rather luscious rump, perky and firm, that was just barely contained in her short, leather skirt. Even the ratgirl was alluring in her own way, with hips that were just slightly wider than her shoulders, a tail that was nearly as long as she was tall, and breasts that not only were bare, but just ample enough to be enticing without being overly large.<br/><br/>Better yet - none of them appeared to have seen him yet, and if this went south for the mercenary group on the road, he was within striking distance after a short run, if he so chose..<br/><br/><br/><br/>((Know you don't have alot of description here yet, but...once I have more things to do with you, I'll ramp it up!<img alt=":D" src="./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" title="Very Happy"/>))<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>(Aaaaand, just in case fighting happens soon...)<br/><br/><br/><br/>Health Stats!<br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Makisa (Human girl)- HP 21/21, AC 16, Touch 14, CMD 16<br/><br/>Ruli (Rat girl) - HP 24/24, AC 13, Touch 12, CMD 14<br/><br/>Hadri (Scorpion girl) - HP 29/29, AC 17, Touch 11, CMD 17<br/><br/>Rendra (Pig girl) - HP - 34/34, AC 15, Touch 11, CMD 16<br/><br/>Ambril (Robed human male) - HP- 14/14, AC 14, Touch 14, CMD 14<br/><br/>Godra (Catboy) - HP - 25/25, AC 17, Touch 17 CMD 18<br/><br/>Teeka (Catgirl) - HP 29/29, AC 16, Touch 14 CMD 16<br/><br/>Drogjee (Half-orc girl) - HP 24/24, AC 17, Touch 11, CMD 16<br/><br/>Lilan (Half-elf girl) - HP 30/30, AC 16, Touch 13, CMD 15<br/><br/>Jutii (Lizardess) - HP 24/24, AC 15, touch 14, CMD 16<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>ALLIES<br/><br/>Meera - Female Neko "Sorta-Monk"<br/>HP - 33/33<br/>AC - 20<br/>CMD - 20<br/><br/><br/>Yumina - Female Feline fighter<br/>HP - 19/28<br/>AC - 20 (Yay, armor now! <img alt=":D" src="./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" title="Very Happy"/>)<br/>CMD - 19</div></div></div>