Mr. Pasternack came into the room as the Drow did, with a piece of bacon and the recent fanfic of his adventures, "Mm?" Obviously, his mouth was a bit full, or he would have said something more intelligent. So he ate the bacon strips quickly, just enough time to wave the Drow out.
Clearing his throat, he approached the box. Scratching at his chest fur, he looked the box over, "Strange. That's what it is." Giving it a quick look over, he suddenly brightened, "I've got it. I've seen this before."
He spread his arms to create some space, and he took a few paces back from the box. He then walks slowly to the box, covering his mouth a bit and drawing the hand down his neck as he laughs, then he pulls back his fist and punches that box like some kinda Miguel impersonator.
The box clatters over the table, lands on the floor with a loud heavy clunk.
Pasternack's fist aches, he thinks he may have cracked a bone hitting the metal chest with his bare knuckles.
The chest seems entirely unfazed by the glaring and intimidation...
Mr. Pasternack shakes his fist, stomping his foot and dancing about, "Augh, okay, no, that, that wasn't it." Standing up and shaking his hand loose, "I think I'll pay the doctor a visit." Walking around the table, he scooped up the box with his other arm and plopped it back down. Looking over his bruised knuckle, and then at the Cygnus, "Call for me if you get it open. I'm going to see if my favorite nurse is in today."
And he would promptly leave the mysterious box, trading his bruised ego for the hopeful sounds of the nurse's sweet, sweet singing voice. He made sure to close the door behind him, preparing the story about how he injured his hand punching a box away from...some sort of dragon monster, obviously. Or maybe the dragon tried to drop a 2x4 on some child.
When Pasternack picks up the chest, the metal holding it close splits open, and the lid pops up. Inside he finds a platinum chit with his name on it, similar to the copper chit he currently wears around his neck. The date on the chit indicates it is valid for another 45 days, before it expires. He also finds a small scroll with a red ribbon tied around it.
As soon as he removes these from the chest, it snaps back closed hard enough to take off a finger if he'd left one in it, and the metal reseals. It will no longer open for him.
To whomever it may concern, the bearer of this scroll is invited to the Tabula Sententia, in the First District, upon the Fourteenth of Evensward.
Having miraculously opened the box and just a few steps towards the door, Mr. Pasternack turns back around and throws his hands in the air, "Aha! I did it! I knew that would work." He smiles so widely to Cygnus, as he digs into the box's contents. Pinching the chit in between his finger and the ribboned scroll in his other, the box snaps shut.
Eyeing the chit, he bites into it briefly, before he checks the roman numeral on the back, "I'm holding onto a fortune...hmm, what to do with it.." Tapping the chit against his chin, he walked around the room. Then, it came to him, "I can sleep somewhere else, and in a nice bed, and maybe make a little profit...and go on a shopping spree!" He pumped his fist, once, and soon stashed the scroll into his back pocket. Stepping outside, he headed towards the equivalent of a realestate office, completely forgeting about the nurse's office.
"Well, I mean... technically." Cygnus responds, head slightly canted at the cat's antics. "I was a little upset with the box for denying me entry, so thank you." he responds, booping the box with his nose, and failing that, dropping a paw on top of it. The fact that he may well need hands for this was not lost on him at this very moment. nor the fact that he'd climbed onto the table to attempt to get his own shinies.
When Cygnus puts his nose against the metal, it is slightly tingly, as if it had a static charge. And then the chest opens, and reveals another platinum ID chit and scroll.
The small chest is big enough that Cygunus can reach in and bite both to drag them out. Once his snout is free, the chest snaps shut again.
This time, he adds a few yips in order to untie the ribbon to read over the contents, tail thumping with excitement.
"Mmm... I really expected more information than that from a magic box and a mysterious courtier with a shiny metal arm." he didn't seem upset by any means, but the surprise of his own platinum chit, along with thoughts of what to do with it swam in his head.
But it really depended on what they were being hired for. Hired for by someone in the first district, in particular...
It wasn't long before the shock wore off that Mr. Pasternack found that he wasn't holding a turn in chit. He stopped in the road and opened his hand again. Like magic, he let the chain slip around his fingers and he looked down, "Ah, drats. So he leans against the nearest building and pulls out the scroll. Propping his feet up on a box, that he slid over, he began to read. Didn't take long, of course, so he rolled it back up and stood up, and held his arms out wide, looking his clothes over, "And me without my finery."
So he wondered back at the barracks with the others, a sheepish smile on his face. Thankfully, only Cygnus was there to watch his blunder unfold. He lifted hand to wave a bit, before he tried to find something else to wear. Though he looked smashing in anything.
"You guys seriously don't know who that is?" Rozzev said disbelievingly as he shook his head at Pasternak and Cygnus. He reached out to the box himself as he related what he knew about Geltherian Graybane.
"This is quite an amazing honor," he sighed, gazing reverently at the scroll and ID chits.
Ciaran watches the entire interaction of the strange drow group then the box and the group not really sure how to react to the situation, she seems embarrassed to not know what Rozzev claims is an important person but pays close attention to his explanation before reaching to touch the box and get her own ID Chip.
"So what would he want with us?" She asked the group but was clearly focused on Rozzev as he seemed to be the most informed person.
Kayniik walks over to also check out the box. "Kayniik also wants to play with magicbox!" he says as the takes the box into his hands and waiting to see if a scroll also comes out to him.
"Mork no know what happens to box. Box has magics? Mork know not of magics... and Gork neither"
Gork nods even though its obvious he has no clue whats going on
-Posted with Wayfinder
Rozzev looked at Ciaran, his whiskers quivering, though she could tell his mind was somewhere else and he wasn't really seeing her at all.
"Honestly? I have no idea what he might want with us. He's the head of the intelligence services! Who could possibly have the ability to send Geltherian Graybane around the city like their own personal errand boy?" He pauses for a second, thinking, then sighs. "But after a horde of dragons attacking us, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore. There is definitely something strange going on though. I wonder if it has anything to do with my research into nonmagical flight, and the fact that I have been discouraged from pursuing it?" He sighs again. "I, for one, intend to accept this invitation. I hope the rest of you will too. Maybe the city has need of our little unit for a bit longer," he finishes earnestly, staring hopefully at each person in turn.
"Well, the very next day we have off, I'm going to the first district. To... find where we're going. Among other things." Cygnus responds as he rejoins the room, having left shortly after Mister Pasternack, and returned slightly after as well. This wouldn't seem out of the ordinary to anyone in their squad, as he'd been doing this since... nearly forever.
Kayniik responds to Rozzev "Kayniik will join you going to speak with boss. But Kayniik hope not going after bigger dragons, they eat goblins like snacks. But let's find out how we can serve." he says finishing with a big grin, clearly distracted by Cygnus blinking in and out fo existence.
With all the different reactions going on Ciaran wasn't quite sure how to act but accepting the meeting seemed to be the universal vote so she would agree to go with them. "Should we tell the higher ups about this?"
Mr. Pasternack returned, defeated, from his room. Lifting his arms to shake his head with a look of exasperation on his face, "Maybe we should tell them that we have nothing to wear, besides our uniforms. If they wish to see us as we are, that's fine, but I could do with some finery." Shoving his hands into his pockets, he thought for a moment, smiling a bit, "Ah well. I hope they don't expect fine silk." Looking over the ogre, Mr. Pasternack lifts the box for him, "Oh, that's easy. Just gotta stick your hand in here and pull out your new pass. Passes?"He shrugged.
"Ah... will go and try this magic box!" as he puts his large hand in
-Posted with Wayfinder
Mork gets a chit and a scroll, as everyone else did. The chit does have both Mork and Gork's names on it.
The next two weeks pass quickly, mostly with rebuilding efforts. And then the group musters out, given their final paycheck (one copper I requisition chit).
They have a week of down time to deal with personal things, the first week off they've had in 5 years.
Finally, on the 14th, they meander toward the 1st district. Getting from the 4th to the 3rd district with their chits is relatively uneventful. Getting from the 3rd to the 2nd is harder, with the guards much more suspicious, but finally checking the chits.
Getting into the 1st district is even harder, with the guards taking each of them aside and questioning them, checking their chits, and running questions up to military command. Finally though, they are in individual drips and drabs allowed entry into the 1st District. Likely the first time they have been in the inner most sanctum of the city.
The architecture is radically different. Walls two hundred feet high guard the top of the mountain, all ancient beyond imagining. Huge towers guard each of the eight cardinal points, each with massive siege weapons, which fire pure magic rather than mundane ammunition. The walls themselves are enchanted, until they all but glow to even mundane vision.
The towers inside the walls are just shy of the height of the walls, and have arches between them for bridges, an almost alien way of building buildings, all enchanted heavily. In the center is the Council Conclave, a domed building half a mile across.
The directions given by the guards lead the group to a hexagonal tower in the northern section of the 1st district. The building is several hundred feet across, and about 150 feet tall, giving it a stocky angry look. The walls are made of carved marble that's black and white with strands of gold and crystal running through them.
The door doesn't open, until you press your ID chit to the silver panel on the door. When you do so, the door opens as easily as if it were made of air.
Inside his a short hallway with arrow slits and boiling oil outlets along the roof. The hallway leads to a central triangular chamber with heavily polished floors. The inner wall of the triangle looks out into a hexagonal courtyard filled with grass, a fountain, several shaped trees, and birds.
A single desk sits in front of the windows, and there are chairs arrayed against the other two walls. Hallways lead off at the points of the triangle.
Behind the desk, a single female drow sits. Her desk is cluttered with scrolls, and there is a strange contraption on either side of the desk. On the left side, a large glass jar seems to have lightning trapped in it. Every so often, a scroll appears in the lightning with a snap and crackle, before falling out of the lightning into a glass tube that then delivers the scroll into a clockwork contraption that holds it and dozens of others, turning near silently on well greased gears. Whenever the woman takes a scroll from the small tray on the desk, the gears deliver a replacement scroll.
When she is done with a scroll, she rolls it up, ties it, and drops it into another glass jar, this one with the opening facing up. The scrolls vanish with another snap and crackle of lightning.
As you enter, she looks up. "Ah, you must be one of the people I was expecting. Please wait over there for the others. Can I get you anything? Fruit juice? Water? Jerky? Celery?"
Always punctual, Kincaid had set out early. His motivations for doing so where complex, mostly it was because his guardian had regarded timeliness as a virtue, mixed in with a fair dose of curiosity. It wasn't every day somebody like him was invited to the 1st district, and what a wonder it was! He was also curious about the job offer, he wasn't at all surprised when the interview turned out to be in the most foreboding building in the area.
Taking it in, his eyes narrowed slightly, he wasn't going to let the evident power and grandeur of this organization sway him. The invitation had frankly been rather ostentatious for his taste. Still it was said you should never judge a book by it's cover... Perhaps the Tabula Sententia was exactly where he should be and Sithana would smile upon this meeting. Time would tell.
Stepping inside, he bowed to the female drow with the correct angle for a respectful stranger meeting a powerful lord. When she spoke, Kincaid replied, "Kincaid reporting as requested. Could I trouble you for little water please, Ma'am?", before sitting down as directed.
Kayniik has spend most of the morning in the temples courtyard pray for the Greatforge's ability to play with fire, and practising his crossbow skills, when he suddenly hear the bell telling him he should have been somewhere els now.
He enters the office a bit flustered having ran all the way in his heavy armor, but is relived he only sees two other people inside, but then he gets a bit uncertain he is at the right office as he doesn't recognise the Drow tiefling , but calms down when the woman addresses him. "Ma'am you requested Kayniik's presence. Could Kayniik get some fruit juice and jerky?" he asks bowing slightly before walking to the area she indicated he should wait in.
The woman nods. "Certainly Mr. Kincaid." She stops working on her scrolls for a moment, and rings a bell.
From the hallway to the left, a doorway opens, and a orc in a suit steps out. "You rang ma'am?" He asks in a deep voice.
"Yes, Mr. Kincaid would like some water please. Would you bring a pitcher and some glasses, in case others would like some as well."
The orc nods. "Very good, Ma'am." He turns smartly and moves his bulk quickly and effortlessly.
A few minutes later he returns with a small folding table in one hand, and a serving tray with a pitcher of iced water and glasses balanced on the other. He adroitly unfolds the folding table with one hand, and places it next to the chairs near Kincaid. Then he places the serving tray on it, and pours Kincaid a glass of iced water, handing it to him with a small flourish. "Will there be anything else, Mr. Kincaid?" The orc asks, his voice deep and rumbly.
Kincaid accepts the glass saying, "Thank you. Perhaps later depending on how long the process takes."
Noticing the goblin enter, Kincaid nods, he'd grown used to working side by side with all manner of creatures in the army. He flashes a brief smile and wishes him, "Best of luck with the day.", before settling down to wait.
Terex visited his old aerie during his week off, and his old friends and relations wasted no time in getting him caught up on all that had happened in the last five years. There was quite a bit of good-natured prank-playing, but Terex was rather surprised to find himself not quite feeling like joining in. So long in the military had changed him, and the aerie had gone on without him.
So Terexaltherin is quite glad when the day for him to rejoin with his squad arrives. He says his goodbyes at the aerie quickly, then flies out into Kotelia. The little dragon manages to hide his impatience with the guards at the inner gates--he can imagine how unusual it is for a pseudodragon to be let in this far, after all (at least, openly), and besides, he doesn't want to blow his chances to do something truly special
Terex is rather surprised to find that he's not the first one to arrive, given how quickly he'd gotten up and left.
Kincaid! You beat me! Terex 'says' to the tiefling, and to him alone, glad for his ability to speak telepathically without letting anyone else in on the conversation. I must really be getting slow if you can get here before me, he teases.
To the drow--a secretary, an agent with a desk job, or someone more important?--Terex says, I'll just have some water right now. He inspects the seating and glass choices to see if any are sized for him.
The weeks went by fast for Rokas. First work, then research, he hasn't really taken time off. When the day came for the meeting, he picked up his stuff and started the long walk to the first district. Upon entering it after passing the last gate, he is struck by the impressive stone work. He looks at the walls, the towers and the building themselves. Trying to capture the wonders of engineering all at once. Then he caught a glimpse of the siege weapons!! What a wonder they are. Realising that he would be late for the appointment if he doesn't get moving again, Rokas start walking toward the Tabula Sententia. One day I will unlock your secrets He vows.
"Well, here we are." Rokas walks inside the building. Seeing the woman behind the desk, he walks forward and introduce himself. "Rokas Nepavyk reporting in." He produces the invitation paper just to make sure to both the woman and himself that he is suppose to be here.
He then turns around and notice the other two already there. The goblin he doesn't know, but he recognizes the tiefling. "Hey there Kincaid, how was your week off?" With that he sit next to the tiefling and do some small talk to past the time and to lower his nervousness.
Hylar arrives in what might be the middle of the pack, not the first nor the last. Kasha is in tow as well, as she had been given her own chit and was therefore allowed to be with him and not forced to remain in military service either (though she was not given the week free that he was). He does not particularly make a note of speaking, given that a number of those already present are familiar to him from service.
He declines the offers, a bit suspicious but probably a reasonable amount of suspicious.
Rozzev, feeling a little bit out of sorts with an entire week of no assigned duties, salutes the drow smartly and nods in the general direction of everyone else.
"Some jerky would be great!" he says as he helps himself to some water.
The orc nods, and returns a few moments later with another table and tray, this one with jerky and fruit juice. He moves the juice to the other tray, next to the water, and puts the jerky in easy reach.
He motions to small perches on the wall, which look perfect for smaller creatures such as pseudodragons or fairies. He adds a pair of small bowls to the perch, one with water, and one with jerky.
Each is ensured they are in the correct place by the woman at the desk stating their names as they enter, and in their native languages.
"Welcome Mr. Goldvolt."
"Welcome to thee, Terexaltherin."
"Welcome Mr. Nepavyk."
"Welcome Mr. Hylar, and Kasha."
"HelloRozzevWithFurNotMattedOrMangedHello!"
It took forever for Mr. Pasternack to pass through security, even though he had very little on him. There was just the way he spoke and the way he moved that others instantly found suspicious. He even left his spear with them as a sign of good will. Finally arriving, he held his hands up in surrender, "Now that I've arrived, I suppose I'll.." Looking over at the others drinking water, he lowers his arms, distracted from his jest to wander over, "Oh, is this free?" He had pointed to the cup he collected anyway and started to pour himself some water.
But he stopped and poured himself some fruit juice instead, smiling as he drank. Licking his lips, he tested the taste and then had himself another glass.
Terex happily takes one of the perches, pleased to see that the Tabula Sententia, at least, appreciated the value of the small races. Thank you! he said, to both the maybe-secretary and the maybe-butler.
Rokas, Hylar, I'm glad to see you, too! And, um... well, I guess I heard your names, so hello to the rest of you, too, Terex continued, briefly turning his attention to the assembling group. The little dragon seemed practically aglow with curiosity and excitement, but his hard-won discipline kept him from doing anything more then examining his surroundings intently after he finished 'speaking'.
Kincaid! You beat me! Terex 'says' to the tiefling, and to him alone, glad for his ability to speak telepathically without letting anyone else in on the conversation. I must really be getting slow if you can get here before me, he teases.
Outwardly Kincaid showed no reaction, sitting statuesque in his armor, but Terex hears in his mind's eye Kincaid chuckle. Knowing the little pseudo dragon can hear him, Kincaid thinks "Did I ever tell you the story of the hare and the tortoise? Well they say more haste less speed. Besides I got up extra early, the citadel is beautiful in the morning light..."
When Rokas sits next to Kincaid, he nods and replies seriously, "I spent the week cloistered, preparing for my vigil during which I reconfirmed my vows to Sithana Nehandris." Grinning he added, "It was quiet! Believe it or not I missed you, all of you, even Terex!"
Ciaran had spent most of her free time roaming the parts of the city she was allowed in, exploring it without a uniform to get a new perspective on the area as she did a few odd jobs here and there for coin or favor.
Once the summon was time she'd head to the first districts, each checkpoint seemed to make her more suspicious but that seemed to dissipate when she finally entered the district. She would arrive a bit late to the meeting, having spent a while watching the people of the area and when she arrived and was offered refreshments would glance over at the others before settling on water as she took her seat near Kincaid and sat surprisingly still compared to her normal demeanor.
"Thanks." Kayniik says to the orc and woman when she greets him by name. He then gets distracted by the pseudodragon, having never met one in person only read about them he can't help but stare at the tiny creature.
He turns to Terex to speak with him "Kayniik have to say sorry to Terexaltherin. Kayniik thought you a pet when you entered, before you started talking." Keyniik is afraid the pseudodragon dragon used his telepathy to read his mind when he joined the party.
Cygnus had clearly taken his time on getting to the Hexagon, given how delayed his arrival was combined with his propensity for moving quickly. It likely had something to do with continued exploration - nothing particularly suspicious, no back-alleys or investigations into windows, but instead simply travel from one location to another, admiring the scenery - the first district was a special prize, after all, that few would know much or anything about. Remembering interesting bits to add to his stories would make them seem all the more real.
But arrive he did... his cool blue eyes looking from person to person, before vanishing and appearing seated in a chair nearer the secretary. He watches as the lightning bottle drops out a scroll, and cants his head, ear perked. Then he watches as she drops one into the other bottle. "Do they all go to the same place?" he asks, not getting involved with the food or drink, just yet, his stomach tumbling over from all of the strange new things.
Terex sends a mental laugh to his squad. Why would you be so surprised, Kincaid? I know you all missed me, he cheekily 'says' to them as he continues examining the room.
He responds to Kayniik with a broadcast to everyone in the room. It's okay, Kayniik. Sometimes it's useful to be underestimated, right? He somehow attaches the impression of himself winking to that last thought, in spite of showing no sign of physically doing so.
"Kayniik happy! Wouldn't want to pick up Terex thinking him pet." He says nodding his large head slightly at Terexaltherin, picking up some more jerky to eat.
"I do not know, Mr. Cygnus. The jars know where to send them. For all I know, this is busy work, and my boss is enjoying the fact I'm destroying the scrolls I worked so hard on." She replies in a dry voice, arching an eyebrow.
She knows what happens to the scrolls, but isn't telling anyone she just met about how things work here.
About that time, a gold ribbonned scroll flashes into the glass jar, and the machinery instead of adding it to the rotation, immediately drops it on her desk directly. She opens the scroll, and then drops it into the other jar after glancing over it. "We appear to have more than we had expected of your groups arrived, please proceed down the right hand hallway. There is a set of stairs half-way down. Proceed up to the 5th floor, turn right, and walk down the hallway. The hall will turn left, take that hallway to the first intersection, turn right again. There will be a double door on your left about 20 ft down. Enter those doors."
Starting to be crowded in here, I wonder how many more are they waiting for before they get this thing started.
Rokas looks at each newcomer enter one at a time. He looks at the others that he shared service time with. "Just missing Abbo and T'Krell and the group will all be here. He gets himself some food and water and sit back down.
Following the directions (hopefully), the group arrives at a pair of simple looking double doors. Opening them they find a room that looks like a cross between an office, a library, and a war room. The far wall is made of windows that look out over the garden area in the center of the building.
The western wall is covered with shelves of books and a massive rack of scrolls that's overflowing, literally, with scrolls. There are piles of them on the floor in front of the rack. Books are also stacked up in front of the book shelf which is overflowing.
On the eastern wall is a massive map of Kotelia, with pins of various colors all scattered over it. Next to it is a massive map of the local continent, with Kotelia prominantly in the center of it.
There are several benches set up in front of the desk, enough to hold everyone. Chairs and couches have temporarily been pushed out of the way to make room for the benches, so everyone could be seated at the same time. They are currently along the eastern wall under the maps.
Sitting behind the desk is the Drow who dropped off the chests earlier. "Ah, good, you are mostly all here. I had not expected you all to come. I do hope two of you brought my chests back, they are somewhat expensive, but the best way to ensure only those I chose get the access chits." He waves at the benches. "Take a seat. Tell me why you think you're here."
The pins in the Kotelia map colors correspond to where the dragons attacked, black pins for black dragons, blue for blue dragons, and so on. The pins are in different sizes, likely for the sizes of the dragons. Some of the pins also pin small bits of paper with writing on them, while others do not. Finally, some pin bits of red paper to the map. Without going closer, you cannot read what is pinned on the paper with writing.
The large map of the area with Kotelia at the center is freshly drawn, but based on maps you have seen in training. However, this map has most of the information about surrounding threats removed. It looks quite empty currently.
Having been the last to get his items from the chest, Hylar had taken responsibility therefor. It was currently in one of his saddlebags, and he retrieved it with only a modicum of turning awkwardly. He sets it down on the desk before finding himself a nice spot of floor. It would be quite odd for him to attempt to sit on one of the benches, and most would not be able to support his weight. Then again, if these benches had been particularly set out, perhaps they were reinforced. He decided not to gamble and merely sat on the floor, which kept him near eye level for the others.
Kayniik is not certain exactly why they are here but he responds "Kayniik Imagine it be cause of the dragon attack?"
After mulling it over for a moment, Kincaid ventured his opinion, "When the invitation arrived there was much speculation on that topic. My guess is you have the kind of problem best solved by a squad of self reliant soldiers who aren't soldiers anymore. Such a squad can go places the army can't. It would not surprise me if it had something to do with the recent dragon attack, at least tangentially."
Terex's excitement builds as he flies down the hall in company with his squad and the other soldiers. When they enter their destination, he looks around curiously, taking everything in.
Terex perches on the spot provided for him. He nods as the others speak.
I think Kincaid is right! he proclaims excitedly. You need to figure out who could possibly send an attack like that, and you need squads that work well together but aren't well-known to start looking!
He pauses a moment as he takes in what seems off about the map. And you're not sure enough of the older reports to trust them, he adds, his mental voice a bit more subdued as he thinks through what that means.
Ciaran follows the instructions given and quietly sits at the new table as her eyes wander the room, the clutter was a bit annoying but she didn't comment on it for now. She turns her attention to the map and takes a moment to appreciate how much work must have gone into marking and sorting everything.
"Have the other treats been dealt with or are they just being ignored for now?" She commented about the fresh map being blank.
"Well, I certainly hope your work is more important than that!" Cygnus responds, unable to get past her bluff. "I'm uncertain I could sit at a desk, working, then burning my work for hours on end. For more than just the obvious reasons." he responds, tail thumping, before vanishing to follow along at Ciaran's heel, before disappearing and reappearing across from her when she takes a seat.
Mr. Pasternack was busy taking advantage of the free food, piece of jerky in his mouth. Chewing on it, his sharp eyes caught site of the drow lady. There was something about her that he felt he almost grasped. When she asked about the box, though, he pulled out his pack and placed the box on her desk, "You mean this? I just happen to have it with me; how fortunate!" He smiled so charmingly, his tail floofing outward. His eyes challenged hers, but he tossed his hands up in the air, "I can't thank you enough for sending for these others. I had thought myself all alone and certainly hoped that I didn't have to challenge all the intruders alone and mostly unarmed." He had placed his hand on his chest fur, his clothing smoothened and his fur well groomed.
But his eyes and his mind were upon the drow, so he sat down and buried his chin in a stroking hand, his whiskers bouncing upwards, "A celebratory dinner and new finery?" Was that his best guess? You bet it was.
Though Rozzev immediately recognizes the pattern of dragon attacks, he is too star struck to notice much else. He salutes the drow excitedly, and nods in agreement at the other's guesses.