"anything you could give us would be supremely helpful here!"
"I may be able to part with some food." She said, turning around and rustling through the cupboards.
"Well, all I saw was a lot of heavy armor before I ran." She slapped her hand against the steel hull of her shop. "Something like this."
"Ah ha! Some brigand knights, perhaps? Or maybe something more sinister, given the region." Taran folds his arms and leans against the doorway. "Food won't be necessary, at least not now, I should think. Shall we be off?"
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As the party prepares to depart, another flash comes from the warp device, whereupon a confident looking paladin changeling strolls out, all but dragging a reluctant-looking catfolk man.
As the two immediately begin arguing before disappearing into a building, florentine appears to have second thoughts.
"Dearies, I... think I should stay here a little longer. I'm not built for a life of adventure, and other frightened newcomers will need my guidance. This is your time, not an old timer's like me."
"You all be careful now, will you? The young one will need your guidance."
She looks at Tin Man most particularly. "I know this is a hard time for you, but these young lads and lasses will need your experience. Stay strong for them, won't you?"
"I'll see what good I can do around here. Be good now, all of you. Life's too short to fear death." She add cryptically.
"Believe me, I know. You come and visit me soon, now!"
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"oh...um, I will!" Gabriel says sadly. He will definitely miss the woman a bit, but like it or not they have a quest to complete.
Taran turns around and smiles. "Hey, no problem, Florentine. That sounds like an awesome plan. Take care of the noobies for us, huh? And take care, yourself."
Once she turns back, he looks to the others and draws his sword, leaning it on his shoulder and cradling it in the crook of his elbow. "So, we're off now, then?"
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"It is a pity to see you leave, Ms. Florentine, and I wish you well in your endeavors," Janice told her with a smile. Turning to the others, she said, "I think it is time for us to head out and find this missing object." Her hand rested lightly on the young girl's shoulder, giving her an encouraging squeeze before walking out of the door.
"wha-Red wait for us!" exclaimed Gabriel, who immediately runs after the wolf and child combo.
This reasonably buff Tiefling stands approximately six feet in height with a hint of deftness about her actions. Ambar has blood red hair, dark brown eyes, and ashen skin.
Her gear is well-cared for, though weathered and worn from the obvious travails of travel. A bow rides alongside her backpack, a quiver on the other, and her leather lamellar armor appears to have been fitted for her quite recently. Though she lacks an alternate weapon at her hip, the claws at the ends of her hands look wickedly sharp.
Her demeanor is cheerful and eager, and reasonably personable despite her rather devilish appearance, highlighted by a twitching tail and well-cared for hooved feet.
She clops a bit as she rushes to catch up with the party from a doorway further down the street.
"Um... pardon me, are you going out on an adventure of some sort? I kind of got stuck here and the other folks that were with me bailed on me and I'm a bit confused as to why. Oh, heck, where's my manners? Ambar Bach, could I tag along with you for a bit, at least until I figure out how to itemize properly? You look like you know what you're doing, I can provide some healing support and some ass-kicking if you need it, Cayden willing!"
After she manages to get that all out she takes a deep breath. "If it's okay, that is? I... we... there's only so much sitting around drinking ale while waiting for something a person can do and.." She trails off a bit to let other folks get words in...
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Elsie looks up at the newcomer with the eyes of a critical child.
"... You look like something out of a movie with horrible monsters," she states finally after her visual assessment. "But you talk like that really nervous student teacher from my school. I don't like her very much. She doesn't think doing flips off the monkey bars is safe and makes us stop."
The tiefling blinks at Elsie's comment, fidgeting a little bit as the comment is made about being from a movie with horrible monsters before tilting her head and considering.
"Huh." How old *is* she? Okay. Focus.
"Well, it's probably because she's responsible for taking care of you and doesn't want to see you get hurt?" If that's a kid, that's going to completely go over her head, remember?
"Your teacher probably worries about you being okay. Not everyone can do flips like that safely?"
The Caydenite looks to the other party members, trying NOT to fidget too much, though her tail bounces around to betray her nervousness.
"Hey, don't mind Red here, she's that way with everybody." Taran steps forward and bows slightly, and extends a hand. "My name is Taran, and we'd be glad to welcome your assistance, lady Ambar. We're just off on a quest ourselves, now, if you'd care to join?"
Taken by surprise by Ambars appearence, Gabriel just stares at her, eyes drilling into her, his mouth slack and droped.
Ambar blinks a few times at the welcome. Her tail fidgets a bit and sort of 'follows ' the drow as she walks around the tiefling, even as she clears her throat. and shakes Taran's offered hand.
Lot better than the first time I tried to get in a dungeon group in WoW. That was a lot of profanity and insults! Hey, guy, that's kind of creepy how you're staring at me, okay? And hey, um, dark-skinned lady, I'm not some slab of meat, okay?
"Thanks, Taran! So what's the quest? I hope it's not an escort mission. Escort missions SUCK!"
She gives a bit of a smile and then walks over to Gabriel, attempting to push his chin up with the tip of her tail, if he allows it.
"What's wrong? Haven't seen a follower of the Drunken Hero before?" The tone is a light joking one, as she tries to play down the really 'creepy' vibe she thinks she's feeling from the staring. Or would that be ogling?
The tail closes his mouth and causes him to break out of his trance.
"...goat legs?" he asks dumbly before shaking his head "sorry if I uh-freaked you out there!"
"If you're freaked out, imagine what it must have been like for me after getting here. If we can stop staring at me, I'm ready to head on this mission if the rest of us are?"
Ambar blinks as 'Red' takes off on the wolf. Just like folks with mounts showing off to the lowbies. Wonder what the cost of that one was. Welp, time to get moving.
The tiefling does not go charging off after the wolf, but she will pick up the pace a bit, mixing a casual walk with a slight jog.
"Elsie, wait up!" Taran shoots a grin to Ambar and takes off after the wolf, moving as quickly as his cumbersome armor will allow. "Don't go off alone, it's not safe!"
Choosing to stop staring at Ambar, Gabriel rushes after Taran, trying his best to keep up.
Outside the gate, a barren grey-dirt desert stretched out as far as you could see, only interrupted with massive shipwrecks and a long green river that lit the fog in front of your eyes.
"Wow. I've never seen anything like this before. They really went all-out on the graphics and the scenery. So where are we going, again?"
Ambar takes a sip from her keg and stows it, tail darting back and forth as she resists the urge to 'dive into the scenery'. She doesn't want to get mauled by local monsters if they out-level her...
Keeping a eye on Elsie, Gabriel answers "we were told it was outside to the east, near a river" he looks at the green waters "...and I assume its this one "
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Janice looked around the area with a critical eye. "Wow, my Lord was active in this area, I doubt even the river holds living creatures," she said, squinting her eyes. "Though the sun seems just as lively as ever. I may have traded away my light sensitivity, but it is still harsh. Anyway, shall we continue on to the river and find our target?"
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Elsie slowed Big Bad while the others caught up. She raised her hand to shade her eyes while she peered around the rather... bland landscape.
"Ugh. Hardly pretty. Where're the flower fields and long grass?"
At the mention of the river as a location of investigation, she moves Big Bad forward again, heading towards the river. She kept her eyes open, looking for any clues.
Taran grins at Elsie's complaints. "Probably further south, and somewhere that isn't known for spaceship crashes." He too begins moving toward the river, nodding at Janice's suggestion. "But yes, I'd guess that's our destination."
"Is that the secondary mission? Find a pretty flower field with long grass?"
The tiefling's tone is half-joking. She's seen far WORSE quest ideas in the past in a different world. And then she gets a bit pre-occupied, deep in thought as she follows along absently, slowing down a little bit...
Elsie reminds me of my kids. I wonder how they're doing. I hope they're okay. I hope Liz is okay...
"...ok?" Gabriel walks forward, shaking his head but comes to a stop at the front of bridge "maybe there is a troll..." he thinks before shrugging and beginning to cross.
Ambar blinks a few times as she comes back to full awareness from the brief fugue and watches Gabriel's actions at the bridge for a brief moment before pulling out a short bow and providing cover if needed in case Elsie is right.
Gosh, I hope it's not a troll. Their accents are annoying.
"Don't worry, we'll cover you!"
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"A troll, you say?" Janice said with a small, indulgent smile. "While I do not doubt the regenerative powers within a troll, even I would have trouble believing that they would willingly live under that particular bridge." With that, she slowly made her way forward, though her hand was gripping her rapier, just in case.
"Yes, I'm sure we'll be fine," Taran says. Still, he shifts a hand to the hilt of his large sword and moves to the side of the bridge, trying to see underneath.
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Elsie dismounts from Big Bad and follows behind the others, keeping a few paces back to ensure she has some get away room should a troll pop out.
She continues to keep her eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary, or maybe even a clue to their objective.
Beside her, Big Bad's ears and nose twitch as they work to find what eyes may not.
You notice nothing new insofar, and Big Bad is fixated on a cluster of oddly-shaped fungus down the road.
"Fungus? We talking like, hyperactive toe-jam here or something more like rotted corpses? Sorry for the mental image there."
What could be there? Faerie dragons?
"Whatever it is, keep a wary eye. Best not be taken by surprise," Taran warns. He draws his sword at this point, keeping it in a low but ready stance, and continues to stalk forward. He looks directly under the bridge now, hoping it doesn't prove a mistake.
"Huh. Weird." Taran stares at the river for a while, then shrugs. Probably just something to do with the setting. He climbs back up to the bridge and rejoins the others. "So, where to? We know the attack happened somewhere around here."
"well, she did say it was very close to the city...so it should be around here close by." Gabriel says while staring into the river as well, finding it a bit mesmerizing.
The tiefling keeps a watch with her bow and an arrow at the ready.
"So what's the endgame, here? Stand around until we get jumped? Look for glowing clues in the landscape? Wait for a key NPC to die horribly nearby to give us our next quest in the chain?"
Closer to the bridge, one would notice that it is less a bridge, and more a giant slab of metal situated conveniantly over a flowing green pool. Surrounding your side of the bridge is a sea of footsteps. Some humanoid, but most of them rectangular.