The warrior chuckled at the fond memories and the remarks the girls made. Watching them snatch up the cards while Ember teased her, he leaned back in his chair,  considering how to go forward from here. He didn't appear that imposing or intimidating at the moment, more like a jolly rogue than the over six foot tall warrior covered in scars under that armor, some of them newer than the girls might remember.<br/><br/>He looked apologetically at Mia Lin, seeing how her choices were now limited that the others picked up cards.<br/>"I'm not a soothsayer, I don't look for meaning in cards or pictures or signs. I just make the most of what I have and the owner of this deck conveniently forgot about it and left it for me." he smirked though and added "But if I have to pick the crown, you're the queen with the nice legs and the mean kicks."<br/><br/>The man couldn't help but laugh at Ember's joke and remembering the embarrassing moment.<br/>"Hopefully never going to be short on coin again. Play this right and we can live like kings and queens ourselves if we so please. As for selling you off my girl, only to people I know you can escape from." he teased. Actually hold on to that thought it's not a bad plan for what's coming."<br/><br/>To Cassia he showed an ambiguous smile and a nod of respect. He knew better than to tease the fierce woman openly, even he was the more experienced. While he could joke around and likely coax a blush from the paladin, he knew respect and face were important to her, something from her military days no doubt.<br/><br/>Turning to Valva he slowly shook his head, partly in disbelief. "Love, I know you're sort of new to this but best might be not to let everyone know about your map, or the next thing you know will be half of Anfaigh standing in line for that cute behind. Let Mord Jalazar know and you might find a permanent place in his harem or worse, his collection." His expression softened a bit reassuring the holy one that he spoke out of care. "There will be a time to ask him about it if we play this right. Still I'd suggest only bringing up a copy of your map, for safety."<br/><br/>He paused and looked around, making sure the tavern was just the right level of rowdy, loud and obnoxious enough to hide their talk from prying ears but not quite where a brawl was about to break out, at least for the time being.<br/><br/>"Speaking of Mord Jalazar, he is looking for a map by the way, but this one is in possession of a local church or cult or something. They live out in the wastes in a hidden monastery somewhere, only rarely come to town to try and gather new followers or purchase slaves they bring with them. I had a talk with the local slavemaster and he said they never bring any back, so make of that what you will." he paused for a moment letting the implied possibilities sink in. "They call themselves the Church of a Thousand Truths. I heard little of their practices, as most of them are secret, but some say they claim to hear voices and interpret them as prophetic messages. My...friend told me map is in possession of the high priest. Our beloved and benevolent sorcerer king of course doesn't know about it, and delivering it to his hand would make him most grateful. As for stealing the map, I intended to crash a deal between one of the priests and the slavers and ask nicely for the location of the temple, but as Ember said, selling you to them might even be an alternative, to infiltrate the temple and steal the map. I'm afraid asking question made them wary of me though, so they won't have anything to do with me directly. Four adventurous beauties like yourselves though... I'm confident that between all your abilities you can handle the job, meanwhile I can make sure we have a way to the good lord sorcerer with his prize."<br/><br/>He reached behind his back and from a pouch procured a small vial seemingly empty vial and put in on the table. If any of the girls examined or touched the vial it felt like it held some sort of fluid, despite it not being visible.<br/>"I got this a while ago off some crazy old wizard. I'm told if you drink this it makes you vanish from sight for a time. I haven't tested it so I have no idea how long it lasts, but it's the only one I got."<br/><br/>Drake left his offering on the table for the girls to take and was open to questions, discussion and suggestions about his plan. It was getting late so it was unlikely any business was to be conducted that day, the market including slave trade was more active during daylight hours.<br/><br/>"So what do you think? We can get started on finding the temple as soon as the morning. Better rest up after your travels tonight. I have one more night paid for a tiny room here in town, just enough for one, maybe two. Have you found a place to stay yet?"