<div class="floatright">(http://i.imgur.com/ljYAgW2.jpg)</div><br/>Surprising as it might have been to some, Zerxel listened without a word spoken or reaction of any kind as Lisa began her tale.  She was an attentive listener as the human girl spoke of her reasons and why she had chosen to stay at the tavern, and when she drew attention to the eyebots or their lack thereof around her, the drow nodded minutely to show she noticed that they weren't following the human now which only confirmed what Jack had said about them what felt like a month ago now.  Whatever the case though, she listened to what Lisa had to say, and offered her a small if sad smile as she came to a close upon her tale, before the rogue reached out and put a hand on the human's shoulder as she did the same to her arm.<strong>"I am truly sorry you had to endure what you did just to end up here, but you underestimate yourself Lisa.  You and I both know some of us don't even make it this far, to the contest or through training for that matter, choosing....to cut their paths short.  You however didn't choose such a cowardly way out, to end it all out of fear or desperation or any number of selfish reasons that would be pointless to name here and now.  And while yes, a small part of my mind will likely consider this a similar excuse to leave early, but as I told Shugar before, you at least have the wisdom to admit your own shortcomings and pull out in your own way before you became irrevocably lost to the Dungeon as many have in the past.  That takes more strength than you realize."</strong><br/><br/>And following those sincere words, Zerxel pulled Lisa into a brief hug against her tall, slender frame, her right hand going to the back of the beautiful woman's head.<strong>"Gods protect and keep you safe Lisa, no matter how long you end up remaining here with or without your friend, Ruta."</strong>With that she backed away and started down the front steps of the tavern before giving Bo an amused eyeroll for her comment.<strong>"You say that now, but I likely just pissed off the Matron Mother of a powerful drow House, if not <em>the </em>most powerful noble House in the Underdark by siding with you and Tahkina over playing the role of the traitorous, murderous drow rogue.  You might be cursing me before too long if she decides to put a bit of money into someone else, even though I'm the only drow left as far as my memory serves."</strong>While it was rare, it wasn't unheard of that drow would 'ally' themselves with other similarly dark hearted races of the massive complex of caverns that ran the length of most worlds that had a dark elf population.  But that was neither here nor there, not yet at least, so when asked which way they were going next, she looked to Tahkina and sighed before running a hand down her face.<strong>"As much as I don't want to, we still need to find a way to pay the spiderlings for their help.  I'm hoping however, that we get attacked by another contestant or two since I happen to like Tahkina, corrupted or not, so I'd rather not hand her over if I can help it.  That and she's promised to help us find Shugar if at all possible, which will be good for us because Tahkina has revealed something rather startling to me while you were busy.  The problem is that the information is apparently tightly controlled by the priests of Cyril."</strong>She stated, no doubt earning a curious glance from the dwarven woman at her side.<strong>"Tahkina, you can tell her what you told me if you wish, but let's start towards the warehouse where the spiderlings are.  If no one pops up, we'll head for the golden door and go from there I guess."</strong>