Athoros slowly opened his heavy eyelids and looked around the room groggily. This was not the first beating he had received, but he would count it among the most hateful and humiliating, at least at the time it had been happening. But now that lashing felt rather distant, he did not feel like he was in as much pain as he should be in. He reached to his back and found that the skin was smooth and unscarred, as if someone had healed him. As his vision began to clear, Athoros noticed that some of his fellow recruits were with him, the gnome who had also been lashed, one of the women who he had woken up with, and a redheaded women. The gnome seemed to be just getting on his feet, the lashing must have been harsh on him so he was probably not the one who had healed him, or carried him down.<br/><br/>Athoros reached for a nearby barrel, which he used to pull himself to his feet. He wavered unsteadily for a moment before settling. He turned his head towards the gnome first, “Seems we’ve learned our lesson for standing up for ourselves, eh? Next time we’re going to need to be far more prepared, friend.” He then turned to the two women. “Thank you for pulling me down here and healing me. I never forget to repay those who do me a favor. I consider it a bad business practice. Just like letting someone get away with humiliating you.” He clenched his fist in anger, imagining crushing Master Scourge’s face underneath his boot.<br/><br/>The redheaded woman had something intriguing about her. Athoros’ eyes kept being drawn to her bare flesh, not just because of her alluring body, but because of the distinctive tattoos covering her. Athoros was not sure what they represented but for all he knew they might be religious in nature, and if so she might have been the one to heal him and the gnome. He hoped he was right, he could certainly use the company of a more someone like him. In any case, all the people in that room had endured much that day, and all seemingly had some quality that could be useful in planning some kind of escape or takeover. He did not know if he could trust any of these people, but he did know that for the time being they were the best potential allies he had. If one of them did happen to be a spy for the Captain, he would need to talk to them to find out and turn that to his advantage. Either way, it was time they all got started talking.<br/><br/>“Well, it seems we are all in the same predicament. My name is Athoros. I am a priest and being brought low in this way is an affront to the god that I worship. Does anyone here know anything about the purpose of this voyage? I am completely in the dark, a position I am not used to being in.”<br/>