Uthe turns to give Say'ri a look of frustration. "We are doing more dunking in water?" she questions. It's the first time any one of you have heard anything close to a defeatist tone in her voice.
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Trusting Jazadi with further research, Uthe's curiosity has been piqued by the idea of talking to the long-dead corpse, and she hovers around Adol as he asks his questions.
To Uthe's surprise, some of the scrolls here were written with some of the later dialects and she can actually make out the meaning. With growing excitement, she begins pouring through the collection.
"Another golem?" Uthe questions in annoyance. "Someone has a specialty." She follows up with a spell on her companions.
Uthe shrugs and passes the magical jewelry over to the half-elf.
Quite pleased with herself that Jazadi was wise enough to take her advice, Uthe is a jingling ball of happiness as they open the hidden doors.
Uthe recognizes a couple of runes on the headband. "Wearing this will make one smarter," she says with a grin. "Although, it won't do anything for their sense of fashion." She holds it out for someone else to take, quite happy with the headband she currently wears that she judges to be much more attractive.
"There are other hidden doors in here," she points out, gesturing to a couple of sections of wall.
Uthe watches over Jazadi's shoulder, offering 'helpful' advice from time to time.
The amurrun pauses next to the face of sadness. "This stone," she says, gesturing at the trigger stone Say'ri indicated. "There's evocation magic upon it. That usually means ..." She mimes an explosion with her hands.
Uthe follows along as Say'ri investigates the faces on the walls and nods sagely as the woman pronounces her finds. Truth be told, she didn't detect a single thing the gunslinger found, but she doesn't want to appear entirely unobservant. She does, however, spend some time watching for any magical auras.
"Incoming fire, Say'ri," Uthe calls out before lobbing a fragile vial at the construct.
"A golem?" Uthe questions and then makes a spitting sound. Perhaps a curse? "Most of what we can do is then useless," she says. Instead of attacking, she turns her magic on her companions.
"What? No, I- Wait, back up! You mean Say'ri *would* get hairballs if she failed to groom well enough? Does that make her an actual cat?" Adol says, backing away from Uthe while thoroughly confused. "Don't be silly. We and Say'ri are a couple. We groom ourselves and we groom her. She grooms us and ... well, she grooms herself, but in the lesser human fashion," She holds up a hand to her mouth as if sharing a secret, "With water." The hand drops. "She's not quite limber enough to do it in the proper amurrun fashion. But to suggest that either of us are incompetent enough to lead to hairballs is simply rude."
When Uthe comes backn from the alley, Adol regards her with sympathy. "A hairball? Such a rough thing your kind has to live with. I was only one for minutes at most and when I changed back, the fur went with a vengeance..." he laments, looking away with mild embarassment. "Sorry for that show, by the way." He adds to Jazadi and Say'ri. Uthe looks from Adol to Say'ri and then back. "Are you suggesting that either Say'ri or myself are inept enough at grooming that we get hairballs?" Uthe questions in shock. "We'll have you know that it was the decadent human food we ate that caused that!" She pushes at Say'ri's shoulder. "Tell him!"
Uthe leans sideways towards Say'ri. "We thought you were going to shoot it," she says in a stage whisper. "What is supposed to happen?"
"Yes," Uthe declares as her eyes follow the aura of the magic. "A glyph of some sort set to go off with the opening of the door. How long has it been since someone's been down here that they sent us to it without any warning?" Her eyes narrow in suspicion before glancing at Jazadi. "If you are unable to disable it with your skill, then we shall attempt to counter the magic with magic."
Upon returning to Muminofrah's barge, the group finds Uthe relaxing lethargically on a pile of pillows with a rounded belly. "Did you find where she went?" she asks with sleepy eyes. ... As they're walking back to their rooms, the increasingly uncomfortable amurrun puts a hand to her stomach and gently touches Say'ri's arm. "Just a moment," she says with a pained expression. She stands still for a couple of heartbeats before taking two quick steps into a nearby narrow alleyway. There's a coughing sound, followed by a wet splashing. It repeats a couple of times before Uthe returns to her girlfriend's side, wiping her mouth. "We feel much better now. This custom of a 'buffet'? We have no wish to partake of it again," she says solemnly. "Simple meals are preferred." ~~~~~
Uthe looks back up the way they've descended. "Why would they put knowledge at the bottom of a well? Stupid humans." She shakes her head and then examines the door for auras.
When Say'ri mentions light, Uthe makes a magical gesture and four glowing points of light appear, hovering around the group.
Uthe looks around in confusion as first Say'ri takes off after the new woman and then as Adol transforms to a amurrun - a quite handsome one, at that. Catform Adol quickly takes off his shirt again to stuff it in his haversack, as Talibah had seen it. "All these impressions..." he mutters staring down the street and glancing between that and his fur. "No, never mind. Quick, Uthe, before I go, is there something I should know about the way your people act in public? The very brief version!" Almost instinctively, she responds, "'Sab shikaar hai.'" Seeing the incomprehension on Adol's face, she shakes her head. "'Everything is prey'," she translates. "Go!" she says, giving him a shove. "Keep Say'ri safe." With that, she returns to the buffet and tries to avoid thinking about what may happen to the group without her there to protect them.
She takes Uthe towards one of the buffet tables, pushes a plate into her girlfriend's hands and starts choosing food for it. Stilling learning the etiquette of the 'buffet', Uthe has no qualms with picking up and returning any sort of vegetation Say'ri sets on her plate back to the container/platter whence it came. Say'ri:
"It seems that every human we've met here seems to have an agenda of some sort," Uthe mutters with a shake of her head, taking a surreptitious nibble of a rare meat from her plate. She finishes Uthe's plate and leans in to rest her forehead against the amurrun's, a momentary gesture of quiet intimacy that provides cover for another brief conversation. Say'ri: Unable to resist, Uthe turns slightly and, with a purr of delight, rubs her cheek against Say'ri's. A gentle glide of her tongue follows the path of the woman's jaw. "And here we thought that we would be busy tonight as well," she whispers back with a playful whine. "No matter. We can sacrifice our desire to claim you for the greater good. It will be all the better for the delay." A gentle nip of sharp teeth on Say'ri's ear signals that she's not as accepting of the situation as she might let on.
"Oh that sounds terrifying!" Talibah replies, astounded at the idea of a threat, "Who is the Sky Pharoah that you speak of? Some self-named leader of a street gang, or something more ominous?" Every instructor that Uthe has ever had has emphasized that she needs to learn to read people better, but she's never put in the effort. Her girlfriend, though, Uthe's come to learn some of her telling traits and the amurrun can tell that Say'ri doesn't trust this woman. "At this point we're really not sure," Uthe replies dismissively. "It's an old legend that hints at something else, but we really haven't been able to find anything solid. Our trail has come to an end, in fact. So now we're just enjoying what fate and the gods have placed before us."
She turns to Say'ri. "Isn't that right, Baby?" she asks, throwing her arms around the woman and planting a kiss on her cheek. Say'ri: "What is wrong? You don't like this woman, why?"
The adrenaline rush is still present in the Amurrun as she hops down from the chariot as evident by her swishing tail and the pools of black her eyes have become as the pupils widen to their largest. Seeing Say'ri in the crowd, she rushes to her girlfriend and embraces her with a passionate kiss. Say'ri:
"We want to take you right here, right now, in front of everyone," she whispers. "You are our prize and we want you." Their celebration is cut short when Uthe and Jazadi are pulled away to be presented as the winners to Muminofrah. ~~~~~ Uthe accepts the spoils of victory graciously, but Jazadi can tell that she's less than pleased at being the new owner of a camel, no matter its skills. "Clearly our benefactress' desires are as capricious as the wind," she says to Adol with a smirk. "Although which of you are the true winner would be a matter of perspective." She tips her head at the newcomer's question. "We are researching the legend of the Sky Pharaoh," she declares, assuming that Jamie and Dhakira have vetted the woman. "We believe that there may be a current related threat."
Even caught up in the energy of the race, Uthe doesn't seem to want to beat her girlfriend's team too badly. At least that's the most plausible explanation for why the chariot slows in the last stretch before finally crossing the finish line.
The bright sun catches the sorceress off guard as well and the chariot slows.
Entirely giving herself into the race, Uthe is a Amurrun entirely in the moment. So when the attackers fire from the nearby rooftop, it's almost child's play to avoid the errant bolts. She laughs as they race by the position.
Seeing that the camels respect a vocal predator, Uthe continues her inspirational growling and snarling.
Having no skill at either chariots or camels, when Uthe climbs into the contraption, she depends on Jazadi to manage the mechanics. For her part, she settles on enchanting the smelly creatures and snarling at them with pointed teeth to spur them onwards.
During the second day's 'Running', both Uthe and Say'ri chance upon the critical cache of information at the same time, but knowing her girlfriend's current mood, the amurrun concedes the find to her. As Jazadi is pouring over the documents with excitement, Uthe pulls the gunslinger aside. "We know you're not happy about spending tomorrow in that woman's circus. We can make an excuse for you if you'd like to avoid it." She eyes Say'ri with an understanding gaze. "We don't think she'd miss you anyway. She's so set on claiming Adol as her prize, we could probably hire a halfling to stand in for us and she wouldn't even blink."
"My choice of dinner and a grooming session!" Say'ri says in delight as the group leaves the archives. "This is going to be a goooood night! Anyone else want to come, I know a place I think you'll all like." "To avoid any confusion ... we only intend to groom Say'ri. Anyone else is responsible for their own grooming," Uthe grumbles, clearly not happy at losing out to the gloating woman. "Have you ever eaten crocodile before?" She asks, handing two of the skewers to Uthe. "It's much better than you'd expect." The amurrun narrows her eyes suspiciously at the charred meat suspended on the skewer. Leaning in closer, she sniffs tentatively. Sharp teeth are momentarily exposed as she rips a sample chunk off. She pauses during her chewing to consider the flavors. "This is acceptable," she says after a moment and sets to the rest of the offering. Her understated appraisal aside, her two skewers are clean in a matter of moments. "Is there more or is that the expected portion size?" she asks, her tongue snaking out to lick at some of the juices on her lips.
"Come on, let's try and find some useful things for the others. Let's say... first one to find five useful things, as decided by the others, gets to pick where we eat tonight?" Eventually mollified by her girlfriend's attentions, Uthe rises from her self-imposed funk. "We are not suggesting in any way that you will beat us, but even if by some fluke of the gods you do, you are not allowed to pick one of those ... what is the word? Vegetarian? Vegetarian places. Those are stupid and to call them a restaurant at all is a cruel joke." With that said, she moves out to scamper up and down the spiraling staircase, retrieving this and that as required.
Uthe raises an eyebrow at Say'ri's suggestion and chuckles with a low purr. "We'll race you to the top," she says, her teeth showing as she grins. Without waiting for a response, she dashes up the spiral stairs.
~~~~~
However, once she reaches a spot that looks interesting in which to begin her research, the sorceress is gravely disappointed to discover that all the writings are in the ancient pictographic form of Osiriani that she's seen, but never taken the effort to understand. "Well this is just stupid," she snarls as she thrusts a scroll back onto the shelf with more force than actually warranted. "Trust humans to come up with so many languages that no one can understand them any more." She crosses her arms in frustration and drops to the ground, leaning against the shelf.
"We are unable to provide you with a new ring, but perhaps one that we have had for some time?" Uthe questions. Her tail flips up into her hand with a tinkling of bells and she pulls a brass ring from the end. The metal is cast as to appear to be composed of feathers. "Would this suffice?" she asks, gazing at the woman through the loop of the ring.
Uthe looks at Say'ri and then at the woman reading the scroll. Taking her girlfriend's words as a call to action, she strides forward to approach the other patron of the library. "Excuse us," she says in a lowered voice - the sanctity of the library must be preserved, after all. "We were informed that we were the only guests here. What information are you seeking?"
Uthe watches the interchange between Adol and the noblewoman with narrowed eyes. Unable to restrain herself, she leans in close to Say'ri. Say'ri: "Why does he not simply mount her and be done with it. Isn't that what she wants? Then we could get off this unnatural contraption and be on our way."
You've got something to look forward to then! :)
"What will impress her then?" Uthe whispers quietly, her eyes watching the capricious noblewoman. Her tail continues to betray the tension she feels. "Do we have any idea about what she would find intriguing?"
Say'ri: "It is such a crude display," Uthe whispers, tipping her head in the direction of one of the lions. "'Look at how much coin we have. We can afford to capture noble beasts and bind them with chains.'" The bells hanging from her ears give a small jingle as she shakes her head. "Boorish and uncultured. Typical human." She frowns and looks at Say'ri. "Sorry."
Uthe's confidence holds until they cross the gangplank onto the barge. In a seemingly casual fashion she takes Say'ri's arm as they board the large vessel. The gunslinger can feel the tension in the sorceress' arm, though. The bells on her tail tinkle merrily as it swishes back and forth in abrupt movements. Her eyes move nervously from one side of the barge to the other and all the water that surrounds them. Those same eyes narrow when she sees the captive lions and her grip on Say'ri's arm tightens. Knowing nothing of the habits of nobility nor of the etiquette involved in dealing with them, she remains silent as Jazadi speaks.
"The reason for our presence?" Uthe replies quizzically. "What a strange way to phrase a question. Your language is full of peculiarities like that. To answer literally would be that the reason for our presence is that our parents mounted and after the proper course of gestation we were born - the same reason that anyone would have. But we would imagine that your question would more specifically be why are we attempting to enter the palace?" She blinks her golden eyes at the guard that addressed them. "We are agents of the city of Wati, sent to investigate a threat that may put Tephu in grave danger and we need to speak to Her Excellency Muminofrah of Sothis."
"If Haty'a won't give us permission to enter the Spiral Archive then we shall ... what is the phrase? Go over her head?" Uthe questions with a shrug of her shoulders. "And if that doesn't work, we shall resort to less honest means." She nods in Adol's direction.
Uthe moves forward, her tail swishing back and forth causing the bells to jingle. She looks the woman up and down before tipping her head respectfully. "We believe that the city may be facing danger that involves the Sky Pharaoh. So we'd like to discover whatever we can about Hakotep I." She shrugs her shoulders. "Our research has led us to the Spiral Archive." Say'ri: Say'ri is becoming familiar enough with the amurrun's mannerisms to tell that she's very nervous.
Uthe puts a calming hand on Jazadi's shoulder. "So many questions," she says in a soothing voice. "However, at this point questions gain us nothing. We are pressed by circumstances to make statements rather than ask questions." She turns her golden eyes to the Deaconess. "We have faced trials and overcome challenges that would cause most to quail in fear all in the cause of protecting a city that is not ours. So it should come as no surprise that those that the city belongs to and in turn are belonged by would be willing to go even further to protect her." She tips her head and smiles at the woman, her bells tinkling lightly. "As we're sure the Deaconess here is one such, we have faith that she will do the right thing and if the Haty-a is most unavailable then someone must be stepping in for her duties to the city. It would be unthinkably careless and borderline incompetence for this assemblage to be so defenseless by the removal of a single person. Therefore someone must be tasked with handling her duties and we will be satisfied with a visit with them."
"Are you really complaining about my skill with my tongue?" Say'ri asks softly, keeping a remarkably straight face as she does so. "We shall simply point out that improvement via guided practice benefits everyone," the amurrun replies just as seriously.
As Say'ri fumbles through her attempt to persuade the Deaconess, Uthe cringes. Slipping an arm through the woman's elbow, she draws her back slightly. "Perhaps it would be best to let someone with more skill with their tongue engage in intercourse with this woman?" she whispers. Before she can step up to the task, herself, though, Adol demonstrates his proficiency in such skill. "Impressive," she mutters with a raised eyebrow and tinkling of the bells on her tail.
Knowing that information is key and since the information the group seeks is somewhere in the 'Spiral Archive', Uthe sets out to see what she can find out about this place. She begins at the place where she's already found some of her kind - the food stalls. Flirty questions lead to others that may know someone that may know someone.
~~~ Later that evening, when Say'ri returns from her card games to their shared room, the amurrun is happy to share what she's learned - for a price. Granted, it's a price that her lover has paid before, but the sorceress still takes great pleasure in extracting her payment.
Uthe frowns as Say'ri heads off to assist Jazadi. The frown doesn't last long, though, before she sets off through the scrolls herself. Memories of her schooling - both good and bad - flooding back to her.
"Good to see you're all so excited about this," The knight says, amused at how pumped everyone sounded - especially Jamie and Jazadi. "If you don't mind, I think I'll just be standing guard over you. Normally, the worst thing that could happen is probably some book falling on top of you, but with everything that's happened..." "Or they could store ink right above important documents that weren't clearly marked as such and one could accidently spill said ink. There would be much yelling and screaming involved and one would be called the most rude names," Uthe says in a matter-of-fact tone. When questioning eyes turn towards her, she moves closer to Say'ri. "Hypothetically speaking, of course."
"*People are strange.*" Say'ri agrees, switching tongues as well. "*Some people are jealous, some people just want to stick their noses into other's business and feel self-righteous. A brazen slut suggests you are promiscuous and wear those clothes to attract mates. It would be considered shameful if it were true. She's the idiot and that comment shows it.*" "*See? So many things about human culture that I don't understand. How is enjoying being mounted a bad thing? And why would I need to wear clothes to attract a mate?*" She looks Say'ri up and down and smiles. "*If I wished to attract a mate there are so many better ways to do so than to wear silly human clothes.*" The gunslingers whips her hand out to snag one of the birds, managing to do so gently enough not to damage anything. "I wouldn't eat this." She says with a smile. "They are made of metal, look." The birds are indeed tiny sculptures animated by a fragment of magic. "This is remarkable craftsmanship." She tells the stall-holder, "I will take three!" Uthe's pupils widen even further when Say'ri purchases three of the small, fluttering things. The fact that they're not real doesn't seem to diminish her interest at all. In fact it seems to heighten it and at the first opportunity she shifts her vision to examine the magical aura to understand the enchantment placed upon them.
Uthe's eyes flit from the tiny birds back to Say'ri, but her ears stay oriented towards the melodious creatures. A slight jingle announces her tail twitching in an agitated fashion. "Could we not do both? What are we intended to do with them?" she asks as her eyes dart back to follow one of the small things covered in iridescent green and pale yellow feathers. "*Human customs are so strange,*" the amurrun continues in her native tongue. "*I do my best, but it seems that no matter what I do, I seem to offend someone, somehow. Whether it is how I eat. How I speak.*" She shakes her head in annoyance, but her eyes return immediately to the small, rapidly moving birds. "*This morning someone even took offense that I am not wearing human clothes. Why should I wear human clothes? I am not a human. Human clothes do their job adequately, I suppose. They cover up your naked skin for the most part. Although, I have seen some that cover very little and I wonder what the point is. But they get so dirty, absorb all the smelly oil from your skin and really begin to stink rather quickly.*" She finally turns to attempt to give her companion her full attention. "*Why should I have to cover my beautiful fur? It already does a better job of covering my skin than any garment I would wear. And yet, this morning, some human woman called me a ...*" Her brow furrows as she attempts to remember the phrase precisely. "A 'brazen slut'." She tips her head slightly sideways. "*What does this mean? I know it is not a compliment, but I'm unaware of the exact nature of the insult. Does it mean simpleton? If so, then I will find her again and show her how much smarter I am than she. My sister is a simpleton; I am not.*"
Dismissing the grilled vegetables as beneath her and the beer as foul, Uthe tears into the roasted waterfowl with gusto. Her sharp teeth making quick work of her own portion. She then begins eyeing her partner's plate with a hungry grin. "We suggest relaxing tonight," the amurrun finally says when it's plainly obvious that Say'ri is not going to hand over her own lunch to Uthe's longing gaze. "We can visit the library first thing tomorrow after lunch."
The combination of long days enchanting her lover's pistol along with late nights spent with said lover has left the sorceress tired, snappish, and catching cat naps whenever possible. Once the group arrives in Tephu, however, she brightens up. Convinced that someone of her origin is always better off on her own two feet, Uthe ignores the possibility of 'magic carpets' entirely. The shiny baubles and bangles, however, draw her eyes immediately and it's only through Say'ri's tugging arm that she leaves hucksters behind to follow the rest of her companions towards the suggested inn.
Uthe subtly waves off one of the vendors as they attempt to speak up before Say'ri 'takes the plunge'. "*Oh, Baby,*" she says with a laugh once the deed is done. She gestures at the vendor and he hands over a corked glass bottle from a basket filled with them. She bites the cork off and takes a quick drink. "*Here, drink this. It's not na'as wine, so you can't clean your pistols with it, but it works a lot better than water to cool the burn.*" The drink is an overly sweet concoction with flavors of citrus and wintergreen, but it rapidly cools the burn in the woman's throat. "*That is a drink usually reserved for children or those silly enough to venture into the 'extreme' end of the ta'haa display without guidance,*" she says with a giggle. As if to add to her good-natured ribbing, Uthe reaches out and snags another slice of fish from the indicated section. Without ceremony, she swallows it down and rolls her eyes in pleasure.
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