<div class="floatright">  (http://i.imgur.com/MkdOVAW.jpg?2)</div><br/>"Well, we certainly are a hands-on group," Baudhiel says dryly.  She remains stoic despite the lame humor in her sentence, then raises an eyebrow-- revealing a sliver of humor in her otherwise funerary demeanor.  A charred skull crunches under her boot, and she doesn't even bat an eye.  "I need space in front of me.  I don't want to catch an ally in the crossfire."  Her eyes twitch side to side to take in the landscape, as if seeking something out there that isn't horrid, bleak, and foreboding.<br/><br/>"Obviously, I'm not outfitted to go head-to-head with these beasts."  She sighs, lowering her head.  "But, it may be I can reason with them, should they fell me.  Or they may take... other measures."  She winces slightly at the idea, but keeps her head high.  "So don't go risking your neck for me if I fall."<br/><br/>The thought doesn't slow her on their approach to the gates, and she wonders-- will they be assaulted outright, or with this described imp try to parley?