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"You weren't kidding about the Rusty Dragon's special," Sable says with a wide grin, sitting back. She sampled... well, just about everything, not one to let the opportunity go to waste. "Just about anything would be delicious after the long span it took to get here, but that was... well, it really was something special." She casts an eye over at Garbund. "Well, with the new Cathedral being made of stone and glass, at least they won't have to worry about you burning it down if you miss."
Sable gives a low whistle when she sees Kalais' technique. "I guess they don't call you Black Arrows for nothing." After Viridi's first shot with her crossbow, Sable gives the girl a playful, encouraging swat on the backside. "Nice shot." "And you're just full of surprises, aren't you Squee?" She lines up her own shots, but honestly, she seems to be enjoying herself just watching – she'll give it her best shot, but she won't be shedding any tears if she doesn't win.
She winces a little, but shrugs a little sheepishly and smiles anyway. She's seen better days, but honestly, it's all in good fun – it's not like lives are on the line.
Sable flashes a confident grin, answering without a moment's hesitation. "In." Honestly, she'd like to see what Viridi and Kalais can do, too, but they can speak for themselves.
"Black Arrows?" Sable smirks over at Kalais, remembering how cagey the ranger had been when Sable had asked her who her superiors were. "No, just a sword for hire." Before she can say any more, she witnesses perhaps the most spectacular miss she's ever seen. "I was going to say that every archer was a novice once... but maybe you do have a point," she admits to Kalais. She gives a thoughtful hum. "Though I suppose overshooting shows more promise than falling shy of the target."
"Squee ought to be fine, with those two strapping gentlemen keeping an eye on him. Lead the way."
"Well, maybe she doesn't think an archery competition sounds fun," Sable chimes in, clearly goading Kalais a little playfully, "but I know a good time when I hear one." For good measure, she shoots a wink at Viridi, though she leaves it entirely ambiguous whether the wink is conspiratorial, flirtatious, or a good helping of both. If she was a little more level-headed, perhaps she'd realize that leaving Squeeze unsupervised so soon after the subject of fire has been raised, Hagfish Challenge to occupy him or not, is... perhaps not the wisest possible course of action.
Seeing Viridi quicken her step, Sable does likewise to keep pace. Seeing how excited she is, she doesn't want their tour guide to miss the ceremony opening the festival – it isn't hard to see she's been looking forward to this. The crowd draws just as much of Sable's attention as the church as they approach. Thousands... she has to admit, she hadn't thought Sandpoint was that big. Maybe some of them are attending the festival, like Nils... if that's so, she hopes she can find a rooms at one of the inns. Better to check that sooner, rather than later. The Cathedral itself, though, is certainly worthy of awe, and more than once, when Sable finds her attention wandering during the speeches, she takes in its grandeur. She can see why the locals are so excited, so proud. "Kaijitsu... name sounds... Tian, I think? Huh. So does Ameiko, come to think of it." Sable shoots a curious look at Viridi, hoping she can enlighten them.
"If I stay anywhere else, Nils, I'll let you know." After all, unless the dwarf intended to stay, he'd need her on his way back. It was hardly as if she'd cleared Varisia of its bandit problems on their way here. She turns to the others and smiles. "Well, would you like me to show you around?" "Please do. You know all the best places, right?"
"It certainly sounds that way," she answered Viridi. Homophones, at least. It didn't really matter – for all intents and purposes, they might as well have been the same. "Followers of Irori might dispute that," Sable pointed out to Garbund. "Besides, there's a free food, a festival. Plenty to do while Miss Sorn and Mister Silverhand see to their business." Sable stopped a moment, tapping the pommel of her sword thoughtfully with a finger. "Unless, that is, Mister Silverhand happens to think that there might be danger lurking in a Sandpoint basement. Then he'd have to bring along his guard. Why, he might even have reason to 'hire' additional 'protection', if the price was low. But I leave that to Mister Silverhand's discretion."
Viridi's scales and eyes didn't escape Sable's notice. A lifetime ago, she might have gawked, but after life in the City of Strangers, she paid more mind to the way the girl blushed, eyes going wide. A lifetime ago, she might have been a little more modest, too, but as far as Sable was concerned, she didn't have anything to be ashamed of. Sable flashed her a wink and a smile, same as she would to anyone else. "Sable," she introduced herself. "A sellsword from Kaer Maga."
"A fine straw hat? Why, yes, so it is. Nils, it looks as if we've only just arrived and already you have a customer interested in your wares," Sable chirps cheekily.
"Superiors... Who do you work for, then, all the way out here?" The Pathfinders, maybe? Kaer Maga had its share, as did Magnimar and Korvosa. What other groups had an interest in the hinterlands of Varisia? Sable was relieved that so far, Kalais wasn't wrong about the Sandpoint locals being kinder, given they're waving to Nils, rather than reaching for their weapons at the sight of Squeeze. Still, she hoped Kalais wasn't quite so accurate about the guards having a field day with a goblin approaching – Sable prepared for her to be right anyway. "Hail and well met!" she calls, raising her free hand as they approached the crossing and the guardsmen.
Sable did her best not to recoil and pull her hand out of the goblin's grubby mitts when he reached for her hand, wrinkling her nose when Squeeze made a beeline for the garbage. "Ugh. They're going to have fresh free food, too, Squee," she explained, but if eating rotten food that could very well make him sick was what his little goblin heart – or goblin stomach – desired, it wasn't worth actively trying to do anything to stop him. "What is it, exactly, you do?" Sable called back to Kalais over her shoulder, though as soon as she'd said it, she could already hear Kalais' answer. Turning in goblin ears for pay, of course.
Though nonplussed, the sellsword returned the ranger's nod after a beat of consideration. If the woman didn't want bloodshed – at least, not badly enough to start anything – then Sable wasn't eager to make something of it. "You heard the lady, Squee. Stay on your best behavior." Which, while better than most goblins, possibly even the highest standard of any goblin Sable had ever met, still wasn't all that great, by human standards of behavior. "If it hadn't given us a spot of trouble here and there, there wouldn't be work for lasses like me," she chimed in, before glancing at Squeeze. Better give the guide something to do before he wandered off on his own and got into trouble. "Come on, Squee, let's see about this 'free food and drink.'" Sable could be a little headstrong, but even she didn't think it was a good idea to allow Squeeze to gamble about Sandpoint unsupervised. She glanced over her should back to the ranger. "If you don't mind his company, you're welcome to join us."
Sable, when possible, please put your statblock and fluff on your Alias' profile, makes life a lot easier for me :). Aye aye, El Capitan!
Sable cracked a wide grin at Nils. Though she wasn't about to admit it to the merchant, at the time she hadn't been sure she wasn't biting off more than she could chew with the bandits, but she'd been taught well, and Scathach had smiled on her. Forcing the bandits into retreat had been the high point of the journey. "Had to earn my pay." Which, while true, there was more to it than that. She'd hurled herself at the bandits with such ferocity because if she hadn't, there was no telling what would become of Nils. Sable knew all too well what outlaws in the rough Varisian hinterlands were capable of, and they'd lay hands on the innocent, well-meaning merchant over her dead body. Gods be blessed, it hadn't come to that. "Honestly, I don't know how anyone can stand to wear armor – it itches and chafes." Just then, they were approached by a woman with the look of a huntress about her, and by the time she'd finished saying her piece, Sable's hands were nearing the hilt of a weapon. Rather than draw, though, she pointedly interposed herself between the stranger and her... colleague. "Hasn't so much as tried anything I'd kill a man for yet. Is everyone this friendly around these parts?" It would be a stretch to say she trusted Squeeze, but standing by while the goblin was made into an arrow pinchusion for nothing he'd actually done was not how she wanted to start enjoying the festival.
Until 4th level, Sable could presumably wear armor or a buckler (Sword-Devil, oddly, doesn't remove those proficiencies), but I figured it would make more sense if this was how her mentor trained her to fight and she didn't suddenly start stripping down at 4th level. Besides, Ostog the Unslain managed to make it from level 1 to level 17/mythic 2 without armor...? GM, how are you feeling about the whole Scathach thing? Should I keep it or nix it?
Sable, reporting in! (Also open to suggestions for alternate names for this alias.) Erik Mona, who wrote the archetype, gives an overview here, but essentially sword-devil trades a lot of features, including favored enemies, favored terrains, and spells. In exchange, I get a death vow (pick an enemy x/day, get attack and damage bonuses equal to 1/2 my ranger level against them), and if I can manage to survive until 4th level, I get less squishy and can add my Cha modifier to my AC, along with a few other assorted goodies. Essentially my plan for Sable is to make her into a switch hitter, functioning either at range or as a skirmisher (probably primarily at range until I get the AC boost at 4th, but even then, she's no tank). I have no strong preference regarding the Swallowtail Festival. Anyway - if I could ask, maybe we should make as such that one of the other characters already knew Squeeze from before? Maybe Squeeze served as a guide before, or something like that. I'm just saying it because, otherwise - well, my little green life might be extra-short :) Heh. Short jokes. Sable has spent a not insignificant amount of time in Kaer Maga, City of Tolerating Weird Shit, where goblins are... well, pests to be tolerated, so it's possible they were both hired by a merchant caravan traveling to Sandpoint for the Festival, Sable as muscle, Squee as a guide? I won't say she'd exactly trust Squee, but she won't be turning him into an arrow pincushion unless he does something that she'd turn a human into an arrow pincushion for. |
