Ammon breathes a sigh of relief, then sees Jazadi pale right in front of him. "Damn! Poison, most likely. Here, sit down."
He guides her down against the wall and makes room for Dhakira to assist her. "You know, lady Jazadi, you could fall back a bit and let Say'ri and me take more of the hits, instead of fighting up close every time. There is no shame in falling back to a safer positon."
Listening to Say'ri's withdrawal order, he then nods. "Good idea, but shouldn't we search the room a bit more thoroughly first?"
A now-exhausted Jazadi winces. "...I just wanted to help..."
Just in case Dhakira channels energy another time
''This is the last of my heling powers for today, as you can feel, the power is weaning down. We really need to go rest.''
''I can't tell if Jazadi has been affected by the serpent's poison, but if it's the case, she'll need rest to recuperate.''
"Well, there was a burning, and then feeling weak and then falling over... I think that was poison."
"Most likely. Well, if you're conscious, it's probably not too bad , but if rest doesn't help then I know a good venom peddler back in town. She knows her antidotes, she does. Snake milking is a dangerous business."
About to turn away, he hesitates. "Can you walk back, Jazadi? Or should I carry you?"
Jazadi unsteadily gets to her feet. "I..."
"...I think I can walk."
As the others tend to Jazadi, Jamie searches the room!
Utha assists Jamie search the chamber, checking for magical auras and anything the halfling might miss. She seems quite distracted by something, though.
Searching the room, you find that this is the inevitable treasure trove!
The gold leaf decorating the sarcophagus is worth a total of 100 gp, if enough time is spent to salvage all of it. Inside the sarcophagus, Akhentepi’s mummified corpse wears an exquisitely crafted gold funerary mask worth 500 gp. One of the chests contains Akhentepi’s armor, the magic suit of padded armor he wore in life. Uthe notices that this is magical, and upon further identification lists the properties of it.The other chest holds a disintegrating cloth sack filled with 500 gp, as well as a small, well-preserved darkwood coffer worth 50 gp. Inside the coffer is a potion of darkvision, a potion of lesser restoration, an ornate lapis and carnelian pendant worth 70 gp, and an assortment of carnelian, lapis lazuli, and turquoise semiprecious stones worth a total of 55 gp.
Its the middle of the afternoon by the time you retire back to Wati. Upon leaving the necropolis, a Pharasmin priest checks that you are all present still and that you will still be returning to your first assigned site in the morning. The Pharasmin priest also reminds you that if you are so inclined, you can sell any treasures you have accumulated or save any important pieces for an upcoming auction, in which more important items might get picked up by collectors rather than just street hawkers.
Another team is leaving at the same time as you, you recall they might have been the Daughters of the Desert, and the all-woman adventuring group invite you to the celebration at the Tooth and Hookah after sunset tonight to share stories of what you have all found and that there might be a buyer there for some more unusual treasures.
Jamie's eyes glitter at the prizes before her. "A magnificent find! Well done, Hawks! No doubt these treasures will fetch a fine price!"
The halfling is inclined to accept the Daughters of the Desert's offer to join the celebration!
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Ammon nods his head in respect at the Daughters of the Desert, idly wondering when tomb robbing had become such a feminime profession. As a man, he was outnumbered ten or so to one!
Well, there was Jamie too, who seemed to have some acceptance issues with who she was. But he supposed that was only to be expected, when your parents gave a name belonging to a boy to a girl. They'd probably wanted a son instead of a daughter and had most likely been a horrible mother and father. Maybe she was a product of this weird 'Primogeniture' issue he sometimes heard about? No wonder she was confused! Perhaps Taldans were just a lot less refined than he'd assumed. He idly reminded himself to buy her yet another a extra drink and give her a genuine shoulder to cry on if necessary.
But, for now, celebration time! Much loot was had, and many tales to boast in the tavern! Surely Say'ri would accept the invitation of these fine ladies?
...though he couldn't quite suppress a shudder wondering how he was going to handle not five, not six, but *ten* women at once. Some challenges were just beyond the scope of a single man, even one favored by the gods!
Finding the Tooth and Hookah isn't difficult as you've all played cards there once before. Finding the street again, you are met with the familiar canvas awnings stretched out over doorways as many backstreets in Wati present, with mud-brick buildings casting pools of shade on the quiet avenue. Identifying the pub is a flag hung from one awning, painted with a grinning green crocodile sinking its teeth into a gold hookah.
The floorboards rasp under your boots as you enter, a fine layer of sand covering the floor, and a fine mist of smoke in the air with the scent of Shisha Tobacco. Around the rooms are pillows shaped like crescent moons surrounding low, round tables. Water pipes of dinged and dented brass with painted enamel bases sit in the center of each table. Clay bowls filled with the stubs of unlit candles hang from the ceiling.
The bar is very busy with both groups of competitors that you recognise from the lottery this morning and Garundi locals alike. It feels especially crowded as the walls around the main room are cluttered with miniature market stalls.
Old books overflow a table next to a counter covered with cheap-looking necklaces,bracelets, and earrings. Wispy scarves embellished with tiny shining coins hang on a rack in a corner. The bar in the opposite corner is a tall, narrow table, its legs hidden by a cotton skirt patterned with faded yellow palm fronds its surface covered with colored glass cups, bronze decanters, and an assortment of liquor bottles. A low stone ring at the end of the bar marks an indoor well.
|
"Falcons Jamie." Say'ri replies with a smirk. "The Falcons who picked up a stray named Jamie."
Another team is leaving at the same time as you, you recall they might have been the Daughters of the Desert, and the all-woman adventuring group invite you to the celebration at the Tooth and Hookah after sunset tonight to share stories of what you have all found and that there might be a buyer there for some more unusual treasures.
"We'd be delighted." Say'ri replies, "Nice to see us girls getting stuff done!"
Say'ri, upon arriving at the Tooth and Hookah, claims a table and starts ostentatiously shuffling her cards. "I've emptied a tomb, found lots of gold and am feeling rich!" She declares to the room at large. "Anyone want a share?"
Jamie shrugs. "Hawks. Falcons. Some sort of large bird."
Back at the tavern, the halfling claims a spot next to Ammon. "I believe you owe me a drink, sir."
"I sure do, little lady. Two even, as I recall!" Ammon smiles and is about to order, then hesitates in the middle of the motion and turns back. "Oh, right. I wasn't supposed to call you that, Jamie. I have to admit I'm curious why your name, gender and height seem to be issues for you. Why did you come here from Taldor, and where did you learn those incredible thieving skills?"
He toasts to the halfling in a good natured way just as their drinks come and places a hand on her shoulder, which is quite a ways downward. "Of course, you don't have to tell me anything! I'm more cultured than you might expect, and can guess how your horrible parents must have preferred to raise a son to get around the Taldan Primogeniture thing, hiding away your feminiminty from the world under the guise of manhood. Ah, to grow up in loveless family - such a perfect excuse to rebel into a life of crime and run away from home! You have my utmost sympathies."
Jamie's cheeks flush pink as Ammon guesses--quite incorrectly--about the circumstances of her birth. "No, no! It's nothing like that! It's...it's complicated. I'm going to need these drinks..."
The halfling quickly downs the first mug, then follows it up with the second. It doesn't take long for the alcohol to have an effect--her smaller body doesn't have nearly the tolerance as what she's used to. "There, that's...that's better," she says, slurring her words somewhat. A giggle inadvertently escapes her lips.
"Okay, Ammon, so... Are you sitting down? You should be sitting down for this." She leans in close to the Osirian warrior before beginning her story. "This isn't my body. I am Jamie Vernisant, of the proud Vernisant family. We're descended from General Arnisant, you know? The hero of the Shining Crusade? Well, I'm supposed to be a hero, too. So I left Taldor to do that. To be a hero. But, uh, I, maybe went about it the wrong way.
"It was just me and Nell. My, uh, servant from the manor. We went to explore a tomb together, but we died. Gak! Just like that, as dead as Ahkentepi! Except I wasn't ready to die, and I just kind of, I don't know, willed myself back to life. But my body was gone, so I wound up somehow stuck in the body of Nell.
"So, yeah. Twenty years as a human man, now all of a sudden I'm a halfling woman. But ever since I came back, I can feel, like, psychic echoes or something? All the heroic potential that I could have attained. And I can channel it into myself and learn different abilities, depending on where the echoes are coming from. Today I was an incredible thief. Maybe tomorrow I'll be a wizard, or a cleric, or something else. This--all of this--it's pretty new. I'm still figuring things out."
The halfling sways unsteadily in her seat and leans against Ammon for support. "Ooh! Does any of that make sense? You're the first person I've told about it."
"I've emptied a tomb, found lots of gold and am feeling rich!" She declares to the room at large. "Anyone want a share?"
Say'ri manages to get a small table together, but not as many joing as she hoped, as clearly word has got around about her previous 'luck'. Two men appear just to be curious locals, but two others appear to be from the group that named themselves the 'Cryptfinders' including their leader who introduces themselves as Falto from Absalom. "So what site were you assigned then? The Hawks was it?" He asks, "We were assigned the tomb of an important government official so managed to bring back a shed ton of treasure after defeating an actual Mummy. Would you believe it - a full scale Mummy!" He doesn't seem to go into much more detail on the fact, but happily listens to your own story.
----
Ammon will at some point buy the other teams drinks and boasts about their team's prowess in a good natured manner.
Luckily, or unluckily for Ammon and Jamie, two halflings approach the bar to talk to you both. These two look familiar - weren't they from that halfling group that joined? The Mad Dogs? The Dog-soldiers?
"Get me something strong, and make it quick!" The deep-voiced scarred halfling calls over the top of the bar. "Mad-Dog. Please to make your acquaintance. And you beautiful lady?" He asks directing his question at Jamie, ignoring Ammon. He is proudly wearing an unsheathed weapon for a sword seemingly made from crystal with a faint glow about it.
”Hmm? Beautiful lady?” Jamie looks about. ”Don’t see her, but I’ll take another one of these if you’re offering, good sir.” She shakes her empty mug.
”Jamie Vernisant. Nice sword,” she adds, eyeing Mad Dog’s weapon.
Say'ri, upon arriving at the Tooth and Hookah, claims a table and starts ostentatiously shuffling her cards. "I've emptied a tomb, found lots of gold and am feeling rich!" She declares to the room at large. "Anyone want a share?"
"We will be happy to play as long as we are playing for coin rather than you displaying your naked breasts to us," Uthe says as she reclines languidly into one of the crescent shaped pillows.
She pulls her bag into her lap and retrieves a small pouch from within. Inside the pouch is a crushed and powdered leaf of some sort, from which the sorceress gathers a small pinch and inhales it. Her eyes close for a moment and when they open her pupils are narrow slits.
"Ummm...' she says in pleasure as she puts the pouch back into her bag. "We are curious," she says. "If it is a sensitive subject, there is no need to discuss it, but did you have an accident previously with one of your loud, bangy weapons?" She reaches up and gestures on her own face, where Say'ri is scarred.
"Okay, Ammon, so... Are you sitting down? You should be sitting down for this." She leans in close to the Osirian warrior before beginning her story.
Ammon blinks quite a few times during Jamie's explanation, but remains quiet throughout it all. Many questions went through his head, such as what a psychic was, if Jamie was either incredibly brave or stupid to go into a tomb with only a single servant - or both, why he went to Osirion specifically, or if all this was a fabrication and it was just the alcohol talking. He'd heard some pretty wild stories before, and this one ranked up there quite highly!
Of course, with Jamie, or Nell, being both quite attractive and cute, somewhat handsy and pressed up against him, one of them took priority.
If a guy were to make a move on him - her - it (?) now, was he straight, or not straight?
Hm, perhaps the bottom of his own mug had the answer?
He took a heroic gulp to find out!
Nope.
Ah, drat. There were times he wished that strategy worked out more often!
"Well, it's note like my story is any less weird. And I should probably protect her from people with less moral issues..."
He decides to simply pat Jamie on the back a few times in a supportive manner and held her around the shoulder to prevent her falling from his chair. "I can't say it makes much sense, but I believe you. I went through a similar thing, you know? I got shot through the heart at the middle of the inner sea, fell into it and died. Woke up on a distant shore shortly afterwards with my wound gone. Found this holy symbol of Osiris there. That's when I started worshipping the old gods."
He smiles. "So we have that in common - both of us reborn to have a second chance at life. Not sure why they picked me of all people to do their bidding, though. Must be my charming smile!"
Indeed - his full smile would have been charming, were it not for that it lacked a few teeth here and there. Probably an occupational hazard from being in one too many fights.
He might have said more, but then the halflings showed up.
"You'll have to forgive him - yes, him. Your 'beautiful woman' is a man. It's a... rather sensitive issue," Ammon tells the arriving halflings with a polite smile. Hopefully that was enough to discourage them taking advantage from his inebriated teammate. "You're still welcome to join us, but don't give him any more. He's had quite enough booze, I'd reckon."
|
|
Say'ri was clearly about to respond to Uthe with a quip when the catfolk goes there. She shuts her mouth and focuses on the game for a few rounds, trying to decide what to say while the Chief Cryptfaker tells his tall story.
"That's a good yarn." She says, "Nearly as tall as my man over there by the bar."
After another couple of hands she finally answers Uthe's question.
"It was an accident. There's a place in Alkenstar called The Gunworks. Lots of volatile chemicals, not the kind you should sniff. Strict rules about fire safety too but one day one of the older apprentices was showing off his magical powers and he lit a spark. Horrible explosions and I was in the wrong place. Apparently I was hit by a piece of flaming something." She shrugs. "Happens to a lot of us. You can't work with gunpowder without getting injuries."
''I'm uncomfortable about that since I fell it borders on property damage, but I won't interfere if I'm out voted.''
Before going to the Tooth and Hookah, ''If it's Ok with you guys, I will bring the symbol of Pharasma to the temple. I know in Erekrus, we prefer to pay good money ourselves for sacred symbols that are found during exploration to than having them peddled around by street vendors.'' She brings the symbol to the temple of Pharasma and asked any priests thet she meets if there have been notable events during the first day of exploration.
She then rejoins the group at the tavern. She joins Ammon table, not wanted to try her luck against Say'ri again. She ears the end of Jamie's and Ammon's story when she approaches. ''If I may join your conversation, your stories are incredible! It's always fascinating when Pharasma allows a resurection. I believe that it happened to me also, I thought I had died during an exploration, but when I regained consciousness, very much alive, a herald of Pharasma was with me, telling me that I had a great destiny in front of me. A few weeks after, news of the opening of the necropolis of Wakti and the lottery came around, and that's when I decided to leave Erekrus. When or if you feel up to it, I wouldn't mind exchanging with you about your experiences to see if it was similar to mine. It an incerdible coincidence that fate brought us together in this adventure.'' She smile a shy smile to Jamie, then orders a round for the table and partakes from the Shisha Tobacco.
"So it was the result of someone's carelessness. That we understand." She shifts on her pillow and points to a spot on her right hip. There's a small line where the pale, almost white, skin underneath shows through the gray-spotted fur. "Some nom was playing around with a spell of fire and burned some of our fur. He was very angry with the scars we left on his face with our claws. He should have been thanking us - we left him his eyes."
"So we have that in common - both of us reborn to have a second chance at life. Not sure why they picked me of all people to do their bidding, though. Must be my charming smile!"
Jamie giggles again, once more being adorable despite herself. ”Indeed! What god could resist such a winning grin?” A sudden wave of dizziness threatens to overwhelm her, so the halfling lays her head against Ammon’s chest.
When Dhakira joins the conversation, Jamie giggles again. ”You, too? Extraordinary! I wonder if the entire party is currently on their second lives!”
She frowns a little bit when Ammon speaks up on her behalf but doesn’t respond immediately.
Jazadi joins the party at the table, but is very quiet. It appears the events of Akhentepi's tomb have shaken her. That, or she's not entirely comfortable around crowds.
Dhakira smiles to Jazadi and motions her to join us. ''How are you feeling dear? Ha ve you recover from the poison?''
"...not entirely." Jazadi admits. "I still feel woozy."
|
|
Seeing Jazadi looking awkward Say'ri waves to Farhaan, who she has come to know over the past few days and makes the universal sign for 'get that woman a drink!'.
"So it was the result of someone's carelessness. That we understand." She shifts on her pillow and points to a spot on her right hip. There's a small line where the pale, almost white, skin underneath shows through the gray-spotted fur. "Some nom was playing around with a spell of fire and burned some of our fur. He was very angry with the scars we left on his face with our claws. He should have been thanking us - we left him his eyes."
"Some people are idiots." Say'ri agrees. She wins another pot and rakes in the cards. "I'm done for a bit guys, I'll pay the tab since I came out on top. Uthe? Fancy a walk?"
Having paid for the drinks with her winnings, and left extra for Farhaan (because getting the proprietor on side is always a good idea - especially when your opponents accuse you of cheating), Say'ri heads for the door. With the sun setting there is still light but the air is cooling and Say'ri knows that night will fall with the usual desert suddenness.
"So," She says, turning to the catfolk who has joined her in the fresh air. "Why are you here, if you don't mind me asking? There aren't many of your kind north of the Expanse I believe?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Uthe closes her eyes and lets the cooling breeze wash over her face. She lets the silence stretch out after Say'ri's question before finally opening her eyes and meeting the woman's gaze.
Her pupils are still narrow slits as she looks over the gunslinger. "We were educated at the Magaambya academy. But they decided to be stupid and so we had a parting of the ways." She moves closer to her companion. "We travelled with a number of caravans from place to place before hearing about the lottery here." She takes another step. "Some day we wish to return to the academy, rich and powerful, and show them their mistake."
She makes a show of taking a deep sniff of Say'ri's scent.
"Why do you smell like cinnamon?" she asks.
”Jamie Vernisant. Nice sword,” she adds, eyeing Mad Dog’s weapon.
"You'll have to forgive him - yes, him. Your 'beautiful woman' is a man. It's a... rather sensitive issue," Ammon tells the arriving halflings with a polite smile. Hopefully that was enough to discourage them taking advantage from his inebriated teammate. "You're still welcome to join us, but don't give him any more. He's had quite enough booze, I'd reckon."
Mad-Dog nods appreciatively at the compliment from Jamie. "Interested in buying it are you?" He says gruffly. "Got it today. Lost a load of out best-fighting dogs over it though, so I'm here to drown my sorrows."
He double-takes at Jamie, when Mad-Dog correct him. "I don't see no him." Not taking Ammon's advice, he passes takes his drink and orders another Ale for both Jamie and Ammon. "See here, know anything about that woman over there, calls her self the Black Kiss."
He nods towards the corner of the room where an adventuring group are mostly keeping themselves to themselves, seemingly not interested in participating in the frivolities. "Think I got a chance, don't you?" "Least I'm not lookin' sorry for myself unlike this young lass" He says, looking Jazadi up and down.
|
|
"You like it?" Say'ri asks. "It's my shampoo. The special soap I use to wash my hair." She clarifies when Uthe looks blank. "It costs a lot but after a while I learned how to makes it. After mixing gunpowder shampoo isn't difficult. I wash my hair with it regularly. If I don't keep it clean." She points at the scars. "Dirt and so on starts getting into the skin and it can be really quite painful. Jazz is always calling me vain but its just good practise really."
She looks the catfolk up and down. "If you like it I could mix up some for you. The ingredients only come to a couple of silver, which is why the shops selling it for gold do so well. We can go to the market, I'll mix you up some and if you ask really nicely I might even wash your back for you?"
Jazadi tenses up when Mad-Dog mentions she's looking sorry for herself.
She starts thinking about anything she's heard of relating to 'the Black Kiss'.
"No, you look sorry enough already. No need to trouble yourself on my account." She replies, almost on reflex.
Jamie tries to maintain a neutral expression, but her eyes glitter at the thought of wielding such a flashy weapon. "Perhaps, if the price is right. Maybe we should go somewhere quieter and discuss terms?"
Uthe's pupils widen dramatically.
"You are perhaps not familiar with Amurrun culture," she says. "Shared grooming is only done with those that we are very close to. Family, close friends, ... lovers." She tips her head. "Or you are familiar and are teasing us. We cannot tell. In either case, we have no need of this ... sham poo. And we would have no desire to put poo in our fur even if it does smell ..."
Closing her eyes, she leans in close again and takes a large sniff.
|
|
"Well family is out but we could be friends right?" Say'ri asks. Thankfully for her it is hard to tell when she blushes because of her dark skin so she avoids clarifying her lack of knowledge and just holds still while Uthe sniffs her.
"Are you sure?" She asks, teasingly. "You certainly seem to like the smell, and there's no excrement involved. Honestly." She pauses, "How about, when I next do my hair you can join me and see what the stuff if like? If you like it then I'll make you some and you can groom yourself if you'd prefer not to have any help." She manages to keep a straight face this time, which is good.
"So... did you have any 'grooming friends' back at the academy?"
"I had two friends at the academy," Uthe replies, still keeping her eyes closed and seemingly enjoying the scent. "Both were amurrun. Unfortunately, Rufal seemed only to have a desire to mount us. We had more in common with Tiga, but her mate didn't seem to care for us so we didn't get to spend a lot of time together."
Her eyes open again and the pupils are large.
"Do you have a mate?" she asks.
"Really? You died as well? Huh. What are the odds of that? And lady Say'ri has that weird scalp scar too... Perhaps we should rename ourselves to 'the Falcons reborn?'" he replies, then carefully turns to order Dhakira a drink, making sure not to let Jamie slip to the ground.
Ammon winces at Jazadi's rebuke at the buff and actively armed halfling swordsman and quickly intervenes. "Oh, don't mind her. She got pumped full of venom by a scorpion today. Probably her first time too. We both know what that's like, huh? Stings like a whipping from Calistria herself, and she's not tough enough to walk it off, like us - not yet. Gotta give the rookies some time to grow, eh?"
He follows the man's glance to the back. "Into the dangerous type, are you? Black kiss sounds a bit sinister if you ask me. Don't really like the loner types, myself. Distance makes it easier to backstab rivals later. But, you look brave enough to have a shot, I'd say. Maybe if you bring some filled olives they'd help you out. The house specialty always gets good results! "
He winks at the man and orders two portions of filled olives.
To Jamie, he mutters. "What am i going to do with you...? Listen, Jamie, perhaps I should bring you to your bed before he takes that the wrong way and drags you to his?"
|
|
"Tiga's mate wasn't an A-mur-ran then?" Say'ri asks, pronouncing the unusual word carefully. Uthe's next question makes her smile. "Not a mate no. I've mated a fair bit, experimented and so on. Jazz, on the other hand, has always been too caught up in her books to notice anyone. She needs a man, or woman, or A-mur-ran. Someone to get the blood flowing and the tail twitching." She glances at the limb in question, which is currently lying across one of her legs, completely limp.
"You know, your tail really does say a lot about you." She says carefully. "I'd try and use that more when you play cards. Do things with it deliberately, masking a tell with motion is much easier than trying to repress it." One of her hands creeps up by itself and then stills inches from Uthe's furry head which is resting on her shoulder.
"Would you mind if I stroke your fur?" She asks, remembering the 'lesson' on catfolk manners she received the day before.
"Pah, well, I might try deal with you in the coming days Miss. But I think you and your friend here need sobering up before making any monetary exchanges." He says fairly, before sloping off to talk to other groups around the room.
---
Later in the evening, as the Inn has emptied somewhat a small group of competitors come to join the table you have all settled at. The group consists of a tall woman with an ostencibly large pink hat topped with a feather and thigh high white boots topped with breeches, a half-elven woman with a tight black leather corset and waist length braid, a weedy looking man with a scorpion sat on his shoulder and a young well-muscled man.
"You don't mind if we sit do you?" The woman with the pink hat asks, as she takes a seat. "My name is Velriana Hypaxes, this here is Idorii, Azaz and Khelru. Scorched Hand. How did your first day go? Did you get a good allotment? Isn't it a shame that we couldn't select what we needed."
|
|
"Good enough." Say'ri replies, guardedly. There have been overtures during the evening but nothing quite a blatant as this. "A general's tomb. Plenty of interesting history so far so the priests should be happy. Did you want something in particular? To do with your name? It's unusual. We have a few Horus worshippers, so the Falcons was a natural fit."
"Absolutely. THe Pharasmin priests have been unreasonable in this regard. We petitioned them to explore a particular site of our member's faith, but the Pharasmin's assigned us an ancient brothel as our first allocation!" She says, seemingly quite offended. "We're actually looking for an Ancient Temple called the 'Erudite Eye', have you all heard of it?"
"Amurrun," Uthe corrects. "Tiga's mate was amurrun. Someone that's not has a very difficult time taking one of us as a mate." She seems to be trying to puzzle out some of the things that the human has stated.
"When you say that you've 'mated' a fair bit, you mean that you've been mounted many times, is that correct? A mate is a social and relationship contract between two or more people. Mounting and being mounted would be referring to sex. Humans have strange usages for words sometimes."
She gazes down at her tail which begins to move this way and that, cause the bells on it to jingle slightly. One hand reaches out and gathers the limb to her. Sitting back up straight, she shakes off the lethargy and buzz that the camba leaf has brought on. Say'ri's last question finally seems to sink in and her arms close around her waist.
"We do not think that we are close enough for that," she says with a frown. "Yet."
"Everyone starts at the bottom. Perhaps when you've proven yourselfs to the priests, they'll be more amiable to your request?" Ammon points out to the newcomers.
"Can't say that name means anything to me," he later replies honestly. "Any particular reason this site is so important to the faith of your fellows?"
|
|
"When you say that you've 'mated' a fair bit, you mean that you've been mounted many times, is that correct? A mate is a social and relationship contract between two or more people. Mounting and being mounted would be referring to sex. Humans have strange usages for words sometimes."
"I'll restrain myself." Say'ri replies. "My parents kept cats in the temple so I've always been fond of them. Apologies if I lapse. As to mating - yes, I was talking about sex. I've done my fair share of mounting too though - is it always the same for you? You've said that the female gets mounted quite a few times. You don't... switch it up? Try different positions? Anything like that? Humans may have strange usages for words but we're inventive too." She winks. "If we were grooming friends perhaps I could show you one day."
She stands and stretches, and Uthe can't help but notice her 'pendulous' breasts as she does so. "We should get back inside, it's getting cold. And not all of us have a fur coat to snuggle into." She says, offering the catfolk a hand to help her up. "Thanks for talking to me Uthe. It's nice sometimes just to get a way a bit."
---------------------------
Ammon steps in and asks all the questions Say'ri was going to so she sits back instead and examines each member of the 'Scorched Hand' closely. Velriana is clearly the leader. The other woman appears to be physically capable, and arrogant about her appearance if the corset is anything to go by. The two men, therefore, probably spellcasters.
[To Jamie, he mutters. "What am i going to do with you...? Listen, Jamie, perhaps I should bring you to your bed before he takes that the wrong way and drags you to his?"
Having finished the third drink Mad Dog ordered for her, Jamie is thoroughly inebriated now. She nods at Ammon. ”Yes, thank you, Ammon. Very nice of you. Take me to bed!”
Once the two are in the halfling’s quarters, Jamie fumbles at the straps to her leather armor, eventually managing to remove the pieces. ”There, much better,” she says. She winces, then, and starts scratching under her thin shirt. ”Ouch! Those damned roaches. Ammon, will you do me a favor? Fetch the ointment from my pack?”
The halfling removes her shirt, revealing several raised welts on the fair skin of her back. ”Rub it on my bug bites?” she asks innocently as she stands topless before the warrior.
"Can't say I've ever heard of it before." Jazadi shakes her head. "I've been a little more focused on Akhentepi's Tomb."
"Fascinating man, that Akhentepi--a man so devoted to his city that he refused to abandon it, even during the Plague of Madness. He wasn't about to let a disease born of the Mother of Monsters tear his city apart, and his example was such that he convinced quite a few to remain with him."
She's starting to gather steam now.
"If we were grooming friends perhaps I could show you one day."
"But grooming is something different from ..." Uthe begins, but then her eyes narrow. "You are now teasing us, aren't you?" Her tail twitches and the bells tinkle.
"Thanks for talking to me Uthe. It's nice sometimes just to get a way a bit."
Uthe stumbles a bit as she stands. "We are always happy to help educate ... humans ... on the ways of the Amarrun. Then you are not so stupid."