Rather than answer the mouse's query Jess looks instead to Geno, the one who originally broached the topic of causing righteous trouble in Armel.<br/>"You're up for it, right?"<br/><br/><br/><br/>Soma meets Chrrou's words with a tilt of her head.<br/>"You really<span style="font-style: italic">don't</span>trust us, huh." she says.<br/>"Well, can't say I blame you. It<span style="font-style: italic">is</span>unwise to trust strangers." She swishes her spade-tail.<br/>"I mean," she adds jokingly, "for all you know,<span style="font-style: italic">we</span>could be Sogluyem double agents luring you into a trap!"<br/><br/><br/>"I'm not a Soggie!" objects Jess.<br/><br/><br/>"Just sayin'," says Soma to pacify her puppy. "they don't know us."<br/><br/>"But<span style="font-style: italic">I</span>do know<span style="font-style: italic">you</span>." she says to Chrrou. She leans forward and fixes the druid with a deep stare.<br/>"I knew you from the first moment I saw you arrive on the highway. Even before Kalsh attacked Sen, I knew that I was looking upon enemies of the Sogluyem."<br/>"How did I know this?"<br/>She folds her arms across her petite chest and leans back into the overstuffed cushion.<br/>"Because I<a class="postlink" href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/auraSight.htm">looked</a>into your aura, Chrrou. I saw the purity of a soul unmarred by even a hint of darkness."<br/>"And any doubts I might have had as to your nature...were erased when I saw you, as a lion, spare that worg rider's life..."<br/><br/>"The rest of you as well." says Soma, looking to the monk, the cleric, the celestial and half-celestial, the distracted dragonfolk and the others. "Auras pure as glass, all of them. The light of the<span style="font-style: italic">euphera*</span>fills you."<span style="font-size: 80%; line-height: 116%;">{{*-collective term for the good-aligned deities}}</span><br/><br/><br/>Jess blinks and just lets her more eloquent friend speak.<br/><br/><br/>"Your talk of payment is a bluff." acuses Soma playfully, "You're more than just a<span style="font-style: italic">wandering</span>group. You will fight even if there is no reward--even if you must pay a stiff price. Such is the burden of the righteous."<br/>"For if you do not fight, if you turn a blind eye or retreat, then Talloak will not be the last Pact city to fall. This town is the southernmost of the Free Kingdom, and the warriors encamped here are the vanguard of the White Wyrm's minions. It is from here that attacks to the south will be staged. Armel looms up here on this rock like a great venomous fang poised over the heart of the Pact nation..."<br/><br/>She lets this last bit hang in the air.<br/><br/><br/>"They'll hit Boryg next." says Jess sadly to herself. "Then...Gluca."<br/><br/><br/>"Among the warriors encamped here," says Soma, "there are two groups that stand out as the wealthiest and most influential: the Pyyrn clan, led by the cloud giantess Miriam, and the Sogluyem gang, led by the royal naga Ellith Sogluyem. The Pyyrn are also your enemy, but they dwell inside the fortress itself, which is not open to the public. The nagas, therefore, are the most obvious target of any ambitious subversive activity."<br/><br/><br/>"Now, you've little reason to trust us." admits Soma flatly. "So don't take my word for it. Go in the morning and visit the stockyard. Visit the Meat Market. Observe Armel's burgeoning slave economy. Then come back and tell me again that you need to be<span style="font-style: italic">convinced</span>that this is your fight."<br/><br/><br/><br/>"What of<span style="font-style: italic">us</span>?" says Soma.<br/>The tiefling shrugs innocently. "True...we're not crusaders like you. Our path is crooked. We've broken Pact laws. In many ways, the customs of the Free Kingdom suit us just fine. Yet..."<br/><br/><br/>"--I'm not a Soggie!" repeats Jess for emphasis, incensed by the comparison. "I don't enslave people, I don't torture...I only eat what I need."<br/><br/><br/>"Indeed." Soma nods. "Our ways are unsavory, but they are not evil. We seek only a livelihood for ourselves, and avoid harming innocents."<br/>"While the Sogluyem and the Wyrm worshipers...are creating a world of utter depravity. And they don't care how many lives are destroyed along the way."<br/><br/><br/>"Yeah. It's madness is what it is. Just wrong." says Jess.<br/>"I wanna' see you guys win. The nagas and giants and devils have gone too far, someone needs to eat them or at least shut them up."<br/><br/><br/><span style="font-size: 80%; line-height: 116%;">(edited: typos)</span>