<strong>Ellen</strong><br/><br/>Ermon shifted a little uncomfortably at her question, "Why I am, of course!" He answered hesitantly, "I've been given a grant for this expedition, I suppose you could say." He added as he turned his gaze back upon the clouds, "Consider me an independent contractor not operating in any... uh,<em>official</em>capacity."<br/><br/>Open mouth. Insert foot. The man, promptly realizing that he wasn't coming up with the most confident bluff, decided to let it rest at that. "Uhh.. May I ask why you'd like to know, Ma'am?"<br/><br/><strong>Ivette</strong><br/><br/>"They will be taken care of." She replied, turning her head to one of the guards before commanding to him, "Get a rope and lower it down."<br/><br/>Realizing that Ivette was not going to put up a fight, the female warrior waved off the soldiers and they began to relax. They all seemed so... undisciplined.  Not one had a military bearing, preferring instead to let their eyes wander around the room, a few setting their gaze upon the young noblewoman's scantily clad body.<br/><br/>The captain turned to another one of her guardsmen, "Give her your cloak."<br/><br/>He dutifully complied, offering the sorceress at least some modesty.<br/><br/><strong>Dexter</strong><br/><br/>The piratess was hesitant to venture further, magic being a domain clearly beyond her expertise. The runes surrounding the crystal ball indicated little about the nature of the magic within except that it too was powered by the electrical energy that periodically kept this tower floating for centuries.<br/><br/>"Is this it? Two rooms? Where did the guy who owned this tower sleep, eat and shit?" Dirae asked, quite unladylike at that, "And where'd he keep his treasure?"