The woman smoldered at Rathael's proposal as he began to speak on the ghost's behalf. But... gradually, as he translated her words just after they departed from her ethereal lips, the woman looked away and began to genuinely consider the offer.<br/><br/>After a long time in contemplation, she nodded her head and mumbled to herself. She spoke up, softly now.<br/><br/>Rath conveyed her words, "She has a request."<br/><br/>"She says that even if she fought 'till the end, it wouldn't matter. So she'll just ask. She wants the Garden to be kept a secret. She says..." He waited for her to finish, "She says that this is a request, and... again, she... the Garden's safety is completely out of her hands and in ours."<br/><br/>"So... Tell the 'Machine People' to forget about this place, and make sure nobody else comes looking."<br/><br/>He shrugged, opening his mouth to speak before she interrupted him again and lifted her arm to summon the griffon back to her. After the half-celestial was content that she was done, he added, "She says she agrees to your terms, though."<br/><br/>The Griffon flew around for another pass, the Genasi waiting for it to pick her up. If Ellen or Rath had anything more to say, this would be their last chance.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Lucky. Lucky. Lucky. Even with Rath's penalty, You made the DC. Oh yeah... there's a DC. <br/><br/>I forget if I ever mentioned this, but I generally use the Diplomacy rules variant displayed here for it. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9606632&amp;postcount=2)<br/><br/>In this case, She considers you an enemy and the deal is unfavorable. Were you to use this against the others, they'd consider "Not dying." a fantastic deal. That's why they fled. ::)<br/><br/>But she genuinely doesn't factor her own life in this decision-making process. In fact, she's so zealous that she would rather die in futility than flee without dignity like the others. IE: Paladin with Fear Immunity. Although a Lawful Neutral one. :P<br/><br/>The Genasi have been in the area since the Old Kingdoms collapsed. Her fear of airships/outsiders is most definitely a result of generations of mythology and tales about the Old Kingdoms. She believes that allowing outsiders near them will just repeat history.<br/><br/>BUT. You got a great roll so she won't even haggle with you. It's gonna be a pain to try and RP a total change of sentiment, though. :P<br/><br/>...Also, I'm starting to be alarmed by the... err... mean streak of my female NPCs.<br/><br/>So far all they have been;<br/>An angry lawful anal paladin.<br/>A piratess that sees Dexter as an amusement.<br/>A Lara Croft/Indiana Jones chick that's a terrible tease, and insultingly selfish. (Although Leander's been too polite to tame her fighting spirit... she gets off on power and likes to lose, but not without a fight. :P)<br/>And the goblin priestess... Well, she wasn't very mean at all!<br/><br/>So there. One. &lt;_&lt;</div></div><br/><strong>Leander</strong><br/><br/>"Ooh, Leander." She said, stretching her lips in a smile even as the word 'revenge' departed from his tongue, "Okay then. Let's go."<br/><br/>She turned around and began to walk away from the riverbed into the thick jungle beyond.<br/><br/>"I suppose we could try and find our way back up by going around this valley and then just following the cliffs back to that hole in the wall." She thought outloud, her professional composure returning, "They came from where we set up camp in the ruins... so maybe they have a hideout nearby."<br/><br/>She smiled, still holding his pants to offer them back. Well... his shirt acted as something of a dress at least. She could at least keep herself somewhat modest, bare skin obscured by the wet fabric that clung to her body alluringly. Although to some men, that was even more alluring than complete nudity.<br/><br/>She bobbed her head his way, "You go first. I'm not about to get into a slap fight with a Dire Leopard or something."<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Normally I would keep this a closely guarded secret, being the sneaky DM that I am... but since I don't want this RP to end up unpleasant due to a misunderstanding, I'd like to know what you think about it. Anyways;<br/><br/>In case you haven't read my random thoughts about the female NPCs above... Liah isn't <em>completely</em> bad. She gets off on power. Power of influence, power of wealth, and in Leander's case, power in body. She likes to play hard to get, but she really just wants someone to... err, exert their power over her and <em>make</em> her submit. :P<br/><br/>In another environment, it would be wooing her with gifts and displays of wealth. Had I known Leander would be so polite, I might have rethought the character... And I'm not going to lie, the blueballing was downright evil. :P<br/><br/>So having said that, I'm thinking of two possible outcomes... I'm inclined to make her act more and more like a bitch until she angers Leander to the point where he snaps and <em>makes</em> her submit. Perhaps not physically, but mentally. A bit of yelling and wrath and all that. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SlapSlapKiss) ;)<br/><br/>OR... if you don't think Leander would ever lose his cool with her, I can tone down her abbrasiveness as she begins to see how helpful he is in her vulnerable position.</div></div><br/>