"Really? I thought one of Zaine's might be good enough."
"On second thought, you're probably right," Faith says. "I am in favor of going down there and taking care of whatever it is. Just remember that Tempest asked us not to kill any of Gozreh's crabs if we could help it."
Áine leans in to Sasha
Sasha looks blankly at Áine for a moment, then her hand goes over her shoulder to her back, "Emotional, mostly yes." She shakes her head, "No, I don't think it will stop Chivane from believing she can pull my chain." She smiles, her look taking in all of them, but most especially Zaine, "But it was something where the doing was for myself."
"On second thought, you're probably right," Faith says. "I am in favor of going down there and taking care of whatever it is. Just remember that Tempest asked us not to kill any of Gozreh's crabs if we could help it."
"Does Gozreh have shapechanging crabs?" Sasha asks sincerely.
A pause, "Other me would be one of the people in the tavern that you get horribly bad rumors from."
She waves her hand, "You get to be the hero who saves the girl, kills the villain and sleeps with the other girl." A smile, "You get to have a story written about you rather than doing the writing."
She peeks up at his face, biting her lip, "And I sincerely hope that you'll want to f@#! me a great deal in the future." Her cheeks heating again.
Sasha looks blankly at Áine for a moment, then her hand goes over her shoulder to her back, "Emotional, mostly yes." She shakes her head, "No, I don't think it will stop Chivane from believing she can pull my chain." She smiles, her look taking in all of them, but most especially Zaine, "But it was something where the doing was for myself."
Zaine throws Sasha a wink.
The boat is maneuvered closer to the cave entrance Áine and Faith saw. Áine distributes air bubbles as she thinks is wise (at least one for Zaine's gun when it magically appears from a small pocket on his bandolier). Diving down, the kelp is thick, cutting down visibility to mere feet.
You see a horse shaped creature with a large tail, seemingly made of kelp about 20-feet from the group weighted down by sand bags.
A pause, "And I'm slowly getting decent at blowjobs." Sincere, blushing, eyes going wide.
Faith thinks for a minute and wrings water from his beard.
"Gozreh her-and-him-self is mutable, but Gozreh's animals are typically mundane animals. So if it doesn't look like a crab, it's probably not a crab."
When Aerys indicates that Faith gets to be the hero, he smiles back at her. "I get the easy job," he says. "You're the one that has to rhyme all those names."
"Faith, wraith, fate, straight." A pause, "That totally should work for a short story. Even better if you were to wear silverplate."
"Zaine has got a solid number to." Quietly, "Áine and Arcadia on the other hand," she winces, "they are harder." Aerys smiles sleepily, "You all make an impressive team."
"Whatever horrible evil is lurking in Saventh-Yhi won't know what hit them." She pushes up on the bench next to Faith, concern knitting her brow, "Since we have decided your evil-inspired death with be against a big evil, you need goals to go along with the evil slaying."
A pause, a smile, "Plus Zephyr and Tulip would go hunting on their own if all we did was stay in bed. Eleder would never be the same after that."
Despite the acknowledgement of at least one thing that needs doing, her fingers play on his stomach, ranging up to the rib and down.
"I wish you could see yourself, Sasha. Exhausted and wanton, you're like a poem. But one of those poems with sex." He tears his eyes away from her only with difficulty, going to the washbasin, and cleaning up a bit of their lovemaking. "Suppose we'll order another bath, which is going to lead into more sex." He sighs theatrically. "The challenges we face."
Zaine begins to dress. "I suppose we should discuss contraception. What did you normally use back home?"
"Even I can rhyme Zaine," Faith says. "It's you women with the A-names who are a tricky bunch."
Faith looks off into the distance and ponders. "I'm not sure what the legends say about Saventh-Yhi, but I'm sure we can find ancient evils there from deep time. Does that city's disappearance predate the fall of the Starstone?"
Faith shrugs. "I don't know. My specialty is not religious history."
"Did you have any goals in mind, or were you just warning me to think about it before you assign me some?"
Aerys smiles, "It was...is... an Azlanti city and both that culture and Thallsilon were destroyed by Starfall, so... ancient." A pause, "I do know that Aroden was an Azlanti, but only mortal before he raised the Starstone and Absalom from the sea." She smiles, "That's also my extent of his and Iomeadae's religion. Oddly enough, you don't get very many paladins on pirate ships."
"Obviously Zura worship was a thing, but I wonder if Urgathoa was already widely worshiped back then." Her eyes go far off, "Interesting to think about entirely different panoply of deities being worshiped than we see nowadays."
She pauses at the basin, "What did I normally use back home?" She looks at Zaine, "Generally quickly drawn sharp objects and a tendency to prefer being around dangerous predators were quite efficient at lowering the risk of pregnancy." She thinks for a bit, "One of my mother's handmaidens," a smile, "the one who patched up my injuries, she told me to use maiden's tea if I wanted to limit my risk of pregnancies."
"What do you normally use?"
He pulls on his pants, lacing them up. "I was thinking we should have some breakfast together. Almost like a proper date. Then we should get whatever kind of contraception the two of us decide on. Then we should take care of our dinosaurs."
He sits back down on the bed, his shirt on, but loose. He puts a hand on her nude hip, and looks into her eyes. "I'd like to do right by you, Red. Take care of you a little. Y'know, do horrible, depraved things to you in the boudoir and all, but in a really sweet way."
Faith stretches in place where he sits. "Paladins don't like to take ships because they drown when they fall overboard in their armor. How does the joke go? I'll think of it."
"I wonder if the Gods die out when their worshipers go exinct. Not the only way, of course. Sometimes they fight each other. And -- whatever happened to Aroden, he had plenty of worshipers when it happened. We are treading dangerously close to philosophical territory again."
"I wonder if Zura is still around. She'd be a juicy evil to fight."
She considers, "I've heard both theories." A pause, "I really did a lot of drinking with philosophers. I came to the conclusion that it is both. Gods who rely on the worship for a core part of their being would die." She holds out a hand, "Like a god of dwarves would probably die if there were no more dwarves. But gods who are an aspect of something more permanent wouldn't have power to act here but would still exist in the," she waves her hands.
"If you want demon lords, I think you'd go to the Worldwound rather than Cheliax for your end run." A pause, "And from what you told me, the serpent lady had a god too. And if there are serpentfolk, who I thought got killed off by the Azlanti, then their god is probably around somewhere as well."
you're different.
Sasha smiles at this, but she nods, "Adventuring and pregnancy would not seem to work well together." She thinks for a moment, shaking her head to thought she doesn't give voice to.
Her eyes widen at the idea of breakfast, "A date with you would be nice." She thinks, but is distracted when Zaine touches her hip with a happy shiver and meets his eyes. Her hand covers his, "Take care of each other, care about what the other person cares about, listen to what matters, do wonderfully depraved things with each other." She twists up to give Zaine a kiss that almost makes him rethink the breakfast plans. "I..." She kisses him again, "I like both the plan for today and later." A wicked smile, then quietly, "An important question being do you want me naked under my clothes or wearing something else you haven't seen?"
As she gets ready to leave the room, "I think maiden tea would be the easiest," considers, "and some back-up condoms in case something happens and hot water isn't a thing." A grin, "Although we do have a few tried and true methods that don't risk babies in those situations too."
Faith scratches his forehead and ponders. "No," he finally says. "I don't want demon lords. The big evils need to be eradicated, but it's the little evils that bother me. The casual evils. If I had to choose between dying in attempt to close the Worldwould or dying in attempt to free all the slaves of Cheliax, I would choose the second one every time. There are plenty of other followers of Vildeis to throw themselves at the Worldwound. I hope it's personal preference rather than lack of ambition."
"Serpent lady definitely had a God. Maybe we will meet more serpent people if we strive for Saventh-Yhi. Maybe they won't all want to kill us. Stranger things have happened."
"In theory. Not to me, personally. Not yet."
Faith gestures, an 'after you' sort of gesture. "How about you?"
Aerys smiles, "If I'm not fated to be at sea for a while, I'd hope that Saventh-Yhi holds something inspiring. Something as worth writing about as the Cantos."
"I suppose we do at that," he sighs happily. Then he gets up and begins dressing.
"Something I haven't seen yet, please," he calls out in response. He finishes dressing, then bounces on his heels, looking forward to the treat he'll be seeing.
Arcadia chuckles. "I haven't made it before, but I would love to give it a try before you buy another. I like having new projects." She tilts her head and considers him like she's doing mental math. "You probably wouldn't hallucinate," she says seriously, then laughs. "But it will likely taste unpleasant. The good-for-us stuff usually does."
While disinclined to do the initial dive, Arcadia does step up when the group discusses meeting a lady underwater.
"Simple diving I would pass on, but the chance to meet an underwater woman? I'd like to join." She does look a little nervous.
"Well, if you did drown us all, no one would know but you and whatever gods or goddesses you pay homage to." She chuckles. "To be fair, you don't strike me as the type. You've got a good heart."
Arcadia frowns, just a little. "I can't ask…" she stops. "Well, clearly this is not a matter of my asking." She shakes her head. "I'd appreciate the eyes on my back, in all honesty. I would never ask for them, but if you're going to go anyway… a tail tailing a tail seems like the right way to handle the Red Mantis assassins."
She pauses, looking Áine up and down. "Do you have the means to disguise yourself? You're very… recognizable. Too pretty to be sneaking around dockside." She taps a vial in one of her pockets. "If you have need, I can make something for you, I'll likely be using a few myself depending on what I find."
Arcadia's smile is a little lecherous. "I like speaking with her as well. The language barrier makes it challenging, and fun. Considering her background, I'll be honest… I expected her to be less…" she looks a little embarrassed and lowers her voice. "Civil? Kind?"
Arcadia relaxes and her smile follows. "It's near impossible to keep me from pursuing knowledge, don't worry. I'm addicted." She pauses to absorb Faith and Pakshee's questions and comments about allies.
"I think both should be allies," she agrees firmly, "and I am very interested in the Pathfinders aside from current goals. I'd always known about them and avoided looking much deeper, as I wanted to work for myself and not a larger organization. But with their resources… I think I could do greater things." She shifts. "I'm not anywhere near a decision, but yes. They should both be our allies, if we can manage it. As long as Zaine doesn't shoot someone first." She laughs. "Not that I blame him. That man we met seemed hellsbent on disparaging the size of a dinosaur that could make fairly quick work of him."
"Money is very useful, yes. As is the power that comes from a title and a reputation. A minor house in Cheliax, a matriarch and controller of substantial funds in Eleder."
She leans forward on her fingers again, a little smile playing around the corners of her lips. "So not so different from typical nobility, then. I wholeheartedly support your choice to pursue knowledge and other pleasures."
At his question, the smile flickers for just a moment. "Thankfully, I have no expectations of the sort. But after the adventuring…" She takes a long sip of wine. She pulls the hat from her head, placing it alongside the table leg at her feet, and smooths her hair back. "After the adventuring, with the right man, I think I would like that." She admits, tone a little more gentle. "I am fortunate to not have to take a Taldanian virgin into my bed to produce well bred children." Another pause. "And I prefer my partners to be a little more experienced." Her grin becomes a little wicked.
Arcadia does her best not to clap her hands like an excited child.
She hesitates, looking as quickly as possible from where the much taller man appeared from to see if there's any evidence of a scuffle or a body laying around. She expects to find nothing, as that would be incredibly shoddy work.
For the sake of continuing to follow the trail, she prioritizes casually following the two, going so far as to buy something from another vendor on the way that isn't the same fruit vendor, if one exists.
Arcadia nods. "That seems like good etiquette. Do let me know if she sheds one, please."
At his second and third answers, she grins. "Excellent! The one for dexterity I already know would be a boon to you then, but I can look around Eleder and see if there's something more suitable to a gun-wielding mercenary. And his noble steed." She taps a finger against her lips. "Maybe we shouldn't start with a spider climbing potion for Tulip, then. At least not in the stables." She clears the air of her comment. "Just let me know when you have some time, and I'd be happy to brew a few for testing."
She crosses her arms over her chest and tilts her head. "You seem happy, it's a good look for you. You and Sasha both." She grins with a little bit of mischief around the edges.
As the group gets near the mouth of the cave, they are blindsided as a horse-like creature seemingly made of kelp charges out of the dense kelp to slam into Áine, the previously picked prey at the tail of the group. Caught off guard, the creature barrels into the archer, kelp wrapping around her, prepared to drag the slender woman away.
Arcadia laughs in response, a short and sharp 'ha!'. "I haven't exactly made it a priority to address the situation yet, no, especially with another expedition on the horizon. Maybe I'll meet a Mwangi native and he'll sweep me off my feet into a ruin and not sacrifice me to a dark god." She pauses. "Or maybe some dashing young Pathfinder with an Eleder accent." She sighs. "I had the good fortune to meet a man who is about as close to royalty as you get in Eleder. While very handsome, he stays locked up in the city playing with ladies who catch his eye. Fun for an evening, but whether by choice or necessity, not one to accompany me on adventures."
A more dramatic sigh, but her smile doesn't dim. "I suspect I'll either be surprised or have to go on the hunt, when the time is right. I'm not too concerned, yet."
She looks slightly more serious then, watching Zaine at work. "What do you think about our potential allies?"
Initiative Zaine
Initiative Tulip
Zaine points at the Kelpie and mimes his gun's hammer falling.
Zaine pulls the trigger and the musket fires underwater.
Tulip snarls a collection of bubbles and attacks.
Faith draws Charity, and attacks the kelpie.
Bubbles leave his mouth, trailing upward.
"There is a sweetness and purity that surprised me. And there were plenty of concepts that I had to explain. Evil. Snow. The scale of the land off the island." Faith starts to say something, flushes. "...plenty of stuff."
Arcadia unsheathes her sword and swims to cut Áine free and cut up the Kelpie while she's at it.
Arcadia raises an eyebrow. "Of course. Any lesser evils?"
Áine struggles mightily, and succeeds in at least temporarily kicking free and away from from the "Kelpie! she shouts as she strives to make distance through the water.
"I do hope Saventh-Yhi will be inspiring to you. It would be out of character for you to pretend the jungle was the ocean and attempt to write about it that way."
Faith laughs. "If we don't all die of jungle rot ennui first."
"If you can thread the needle between Kassata and the Pathfinders ... well, I would put a hat on just so I could take it off to you."
Faith looks over at Arcadia without otherwise moving. "I know the Pathfinders say that knowledge is their motivator, but...."
"I suppose if Zaine decides that he has to shoot somebody, that makes our decision for us. Let's not tell him this."
Zaine points at the Kelpie and mimes his gun's hammer falling. The horse's eyes narrow.
Zaine pulls the trigger and the musket fires underwater. His bullet streaks through the water, velocity barely slowed the water and scores a solid hit in the horse creature's shoulder, black blood spreading around her. The horse hiss neighs, a sound that cuts through the dampening effect of the water.
Tulip snarls a collection of bubbles and attacks, charging the green, leaf looking creature. Her teeth add more black to the water.
Faith draws Charity, , and attacks the kelpie.
Bubbles leave his mouth, trailing upward. Somewhere, up at the surface, his words are heard. Charity, however, does quickly add to the inky black blood in the water.
Sasha pushes off the ground quickly kicking her legs to get flanking on the fey with Tulip. The spear, much bulkier of a weapon than she is used to, moves slowly through the water, but holding Áine as the creature is, the spear slides home.
The kelp drops from around Áine, the horse creature slamming into Faith - whose armored self weathers the blows without any issue. A kick is directed in Sasha's direction, but she manages to dodge it, barely.
Áine who had been struggling mightily, kicks free, her mouth opening "Kelpie! she shouts, or the bubbles do as it reaches the surface, she pulls her bow out, cleanly shooting an arrow at point-blank the arrow still managing to pierce the creature's thigh despite the drag of the water.
Arcadia unsheathes her sword and swims to cut Áine free and cut up the Kelpie while she's at it. Her blow is the finishing one, with a great gout of black blood, the body of the horse creature lays suspended in the water, unmoving. Even if you poke it several times.
Within the creature's lair you find more bones, mostly human. On the wall there are 10 pearls, all about the size of the one Zaine collected, in varying shades of the rainbow.
A pause, "And for them to be willing for my Nonna to change her mind, or be judged by Pharasma, since I too prefer partners with a mind of their own and experience to back it."
He leans back in his chair, still holding her hand loosely, "So this last expedition, the one that could have been the disaster but wasn't, did you learn something interesting that you can share?"
A brief recap, Arcadia disguised as a man who looks nothing like Arcadia started to case the city for any sign of the Mantis. At the docks, right next to the Last Hurrah a person caught boy-Arcadia's attention. After a brief strafing run of conversation, the very ordinary person left the area almost in the company of one of the sailors from Kassata's ship. Arcadia did a magical quick change, loosing sight of the sailor, but the ordinary man has been joined by another man - tall man - who is wearing the same pants as sailor man had been previously. Which catches us up for the lurker.[/ooc]
And, indeed, there is no body in the alley from which tall man emerged. The two move easily through the city, moving into portside. About three streets in, the two part company with a nod. 'perfectly average man' goes right and 'tall man' goes left.
A pause, "I might be getting near my limit tonight with prose like that." She shakes her head, "I suspect that ennui will not be on the list for you when you go into the jungle." A smile, "I mean, who else could have wrecked a ship on the Shiv and survived. And found and fought all the lovely undead."
She slides to the floor of platform, her head almost resting against Faith's leg. "Plus, you have to die against a big bad evil, if at all." Her eyes look a little glazed and the pips have been left on the bench, to tempt Faith.
That said, she does go to pull on the chain shirt before they leave the room. She pauses, "Date breakfast here in the Sargava Club?" A pause, "I've been told the drinks aren't as good as you could get with the Talion Turncoats."
Zaine quickly surfaces after the fight, getting his precious musket onto dry land before the spell runs out.
He grins. "Some companies drank a little harder than others. The Sargava Club sounds good to me."
Faith swims over to a skeletal hand wearing a silver ring. He frowns at the bubbles that leave his mouth when he tries to talk.
Detect Magic, and making a mental note of the location, in case someone on land wants the specific remains recovered.
Faith chuckles. "You can almost pull that off," he says with just a touch of admiration in his voice. "Practice conjugating your Azlanti and you'll be golden."
Faith very carefully puts the lid on the pips. "I had better die eventually. I'm not pretty enough to live forever. Thirty or forty or fifty years seems doable, though."
"What about you? How long does new Aerys live? If you got to decide."
She looks up at the question with a yawn, "The new Aerys will live until I don't have a story to tell." A shrug, "Then I'll crawl back into a bottle, old Aerys will be back, and there will be no need to mourn."
Her eyes go far off, "I've also heard stories of whales who fly through spa..."
"Do you have avocado?" Sasha asks, at Briga's nod she smiles, "Fried egg sandwich with avocado? On sourdough." Briga chuckles, looks at Zaine.
"Well, if you did drown us all, no one would know but you and whatever gods or goddesses you pay homage to." She chuckles. "To be fair, you don't strike me as the type. You've got a good heart."
Áine breathes out slowly, "Well, it's not like it would've been on purpose." she smiles weakly, "but thank you."
Arcadia frowns, just a little. "I can't ask…" she stops. "Well, clearly this is not a matter of my asking." She shakes her head. "I'd appreciate the eyes on my back, in all honesty. I would never ask for them, but if you're going to go anyway… a tail tailing a tail seems like the right way to handle the Red Mantis assassins."
She pauses, looking Áine up and down. "Do you have the means to disguise yourself? You're very… recognizable. Too pretty to be sneaking around dockside." She taps a vial in one of her pockets. "If you have need, I can make something for you, I'll likely be using a few myself depending on what I find."
Áine grins, "Yeah. Other then being able to change what I'm wearing virtually at will, no, not so good at disguises. I'm kinda better at the straight stealth thing... not so sure if I'm up to professional assassin standards in the middle of a city though. ... So, anyway, is there some way to tell who you are no matter what you're disguised as?" she thinks for a minute, "I'm guessing I should go with hats, cloaks, maybe a head scarf or bandana...and maybe even contacts?"
"So, the other day it sounded like you were interested in learning how to use a gun. Is that still true?"
"So...what next? Return the gear and try to find the old man for our next challenge? Shall we give the pearl divers some of what we found on our first dive since they were so helpful?"
Arcadia searches the pearls as carefully as possible, keeping an eye out for traps before she takes anything from the wall. She gets Faith's attention to let him know that she also sees what he's seeing.
If the wall is untrapped, at least as far as she can find, she will pull one away from the wall. Then, assuming she doesn't explode, pull the others as well and tuck them into pockets to swim back to the surface with.
When she gets back on the beach, she brushes wet hair out of her face and turns to face the sun for a moment. Then, to Áine: "I think all of that is a good idea." She removes the pearls she retrieved from her pocket. "I think I'd like to give all of these back to the pearl divers, as I have a feeling the kelpie is the spirit who killed people for being 'greedy'." She looks around. "Unless anyone objects?"
Arcadia taps a finger against her lips. "I trust your stealth abilities more than I trust my own, and I do think mine are pretty good. But that's a good idea, to have a marker of something that'll give me away. Would it be too subtle if I had a colored kerchief hanging out of a pocket? I want to ensure no one with sharp eyes will notice two different people with the same color in the same place, but I can at least move it around in different pockets if I change disguises? Or even just that specific color being somewhere on my clothes? The formulae is fairly versatile."
She chuckles. "If I can do that, I'll take off my hat to myself, and lend it to you to take it off to me." She shifts on her feet. "Zaine shooting someone is a good marker of a group decision, telling him would let that power go to his head."
At Pakshee's comment about Gelik, Arcadia laughs. "That he does. I like his enthusiasm, even if his stories are a little… too big."
She moves to idly pass her fingers over the inks available on the table. "Do you need special ink? I can find some on my own while I'm out, so you can stay with Faith. Besides, I'm not quite sure what I want yet, so there's no rush."
Arcadia runs a thumb along the hand that's holding hers. "You would need a strong willed woman to keep up with you anyway, I think." She looks around their garden surroundings, casually, but keeping an eye out for anyone who might be listening that would give her concern.
"I saw a temple that had been twisted to dark purpose on behalf of Zura. A magically refilled pool of blood, a trap that, when triggered, almost…" she gestures vaguely with her free hand, "turned me into a vampire? As I've been in the sun since then, I think I came away uninfected." She grins a rather more toothy grin than normal, as though showing off normal incisors. "We found a serpent woman who held a very long grudge against the ones who defiled the temple in the first place. Which would be understandable, but for the fact she tried to kill us all. And when she fled, we smeared our blood against the lips of statues to turn into mist to chase her." She regards Mario with a half smile. "People regarded the island as haunted for good reason. There was a lot going on there."
Arcadia freezes in place for just a moment as she's forced to decide who to trail. Deciding purely based on the tall man being more interesting for his disguise, she chooses to follow him.
For Áine's benefit, Arcadia still looks different but is a woman again. Average, unforgettable, dark skin and clothes that indicate she's a dockhand or something like it, and probably not very out of place in back alleys or market streets. There is a dirtied purple rag tucked into her back pocket with just enough cloth showing to be visible to the ranger.
Arcadia bounces a little on her heels. "Yes, I tend to think the same. Pathfinders are no saints, but they usually aren't so jealous of treasure." She watches him work for a few moments. "What intrigues you about joining an expedition to a lost city, then?"
When you get back to the village, it spokeswoman does an unobtrusive headcount, smiling when she sees that everyone has returned. She frowns at the minor cuts she sees on hands, she calls out over her shoulder in their tribe's particular dialect. Then she motions you all towards log benches. "With all the ships that pass nearby, the water is not clean." She says in Polygot, "I've asked Moshe to warm the cleansing herbs we use when we get cut, if you can spare the time." She smiles, "Did you find what you needed?"
There are some other people in the garden, but not particularly close. And no one that seems to be paying your table mind. On the far side of the garden there is woman with a pile of books on her table, sipping at tea as she thumbs through one book then another while jotting down notes on a parchment.
"The Shiv?" he asks, incredulous. A shrug, "At least that is the only haunted island I know around here, though I've heard there are many in the Shackles." His dark eye grow concerned, "I am very glad that you were not turned into one of the living undead before we had a chance to meet." He shakes his head, "I do not recognize this Zura. The only god of the undead I know of is Urgathoa. Was this a small cult?" He seems interested in her story, but his hand keeps hold of hers.
She motions to Faith's linework, "Special ink." A happy smile, "Important tattoos should be done with special ink." She yawns, looking a little surprised, "But work slower with special ink," she blinks, "take more energy to make."
She shrugs, "If work with pirate woman, then she can probably get special inks transported into jungle."
She grins, "Are you willing to teach me?" Seriously, "I would like to keep all my remaining fingers."
"We did," Zaine says, going about the non-Euclidean task of putting a musket into a two-inch pocket on a bandolier. "And thanks for everything. You all have been really nice about this whole thing."
"I've fixed it up, so you no longer have to hold the pan shut to fire it. Careful, it's loaded now."
Faith spreads out his arms, and wrings water from anywhere he can wring it.
"There was a kelpie down there," he says in Polyglot. "It attacked us and we killed it. I hope this is okay."
"Yes, thank you very much for the equipment and the herbs," she says, resting a dry hat on her very damp head. "We did find what we needed," she opens her palm to reveal a black pearl. "But you are welcome to keep the rest, if you would like?"
Arcadia lets out a laugh that is as relieved as it is amused that she didn't offend him. "Yes, I have to reassess all the time. For a long time, I tried to suggest I was unbiased and kept my judgments out of my investigations. That was a lie, so now I just try to remain open minded to being surprised."
At his next comments, she raises her eyebrow. A few times. "I imagine the explanation of such things by someone who cares, rather than someone who expects it from her as a way of life... very different." She chuckles. "I imagine snow and evil were more difficult."
Arcadia nods. "Well, I think I would like my first tattoo to be something special. So when I have an idea, I will come to you and talk to you about it." She smiles. "And now, I'll leave you to it. If there's anything you need while I'm out…?" She upturns the end.
Arcadia does make a quiet note of the woman and her books, even if only as someone to maybe chat with if she has time.
"Ah, you know it then," she says with a dry smile. "I would honestly be surprised if most of the islands weren't haunted, there really isn't anyone out there to… handle the problems."
She meets his gaze. "I am also glad I was not turned before we met, and hope it never happens. I like to think I'm a cautious woman, so I should be around for quite some time with plenty more interesting stories for you." She winks. "Besides, if I say something like 'I'd like to make a meal of you', I would hate for that to be perceived as an actual threat."
Her expression turns more serious at the discussion of dark goddesses. "Not small enough. I've heard of those who worship her in Cheliax, though here… I believe she tends to have a smaller following. I could be wrong on that, I admit I have some work to do on my knowledge of the darker side of worship. And she may be known by another name here in Eleder; she's believed to be the first vampire created, and ancient Azlanti queen. If I remember right, her origins are not so dissimilar from the myth around Urgathoa."
Realizing the shift in neighborhood, Arcadia bites her lip slightly, looking for a place to throw back her last potion without losing the tall man.
If there's a good place, she shifts her form once more, again into someone more noble, a man in cleaner attire, much darker skin, but still as unassuming as possible. Her clothing has changed entirely, and the handkerchief switches pockets and becomes much cleaner.
She rejoins the crowds and goes to where she last saw him, keeping an eye out for both a tall man, and the pants he was wearing in case they changed bodies again.
"That's fair. Not many people get to see a lost city in their lives, the stories alone will generate gold for you, if you wanted." She thinks on what he said for a moment. "Do you think you'd start a business? Make a name for yourself?"
"Snow was easier than evil. And explaining why she might choose to wear clothes off the island." A touch of frown crosses Faith's face. "She may understand that better now."
Faith stretches and suppresses a yawn. "A long day behind and busy days ahead."
"...but if you think you have an angle on working with both the Last Hurrah and the Pathfinders, I am willing to help. You both make good points. I don't mind being outnumbered in this case."
"I can think of two things that would be useful to know. Do you know a place who will safeguard papers while we are in the jungle? And can you find a starting point for me to buy a book of questionable taste? As a gift, for Zaine."
The woman smiles at Zaine, "You are guest who came in peace. Our tradition has always been to assume visitors are potential friends," a shrug, "Not always true, but our skill set keeps us independent." She evaluates the group, "Most can not dive for pearls, nor find the shells hidden in the kelp."
"A kelpie?" She asks, not recognizing the name.
The woman looks at the many pearls you collected with a smile - if they are on offer, she takes the pair of small teardrops, otherwise one of the smaller round pearls - "For the rental of our gear, the rest is the work you did." She motions to Faith, "And if you killed a predator that could have been a danger, then it would be strange to make you pay us for the service."
An older man comes out with an iron pot - the water inside fragrant with strong herbs. The water is uncomfortably warm, but not painfully so - it stings like the dickens when your hands are washed in it.
"Kelpie is a seaweed horse monster," Faith says. "There are many bones near the cave where it laired. That bed should be safer now."
Faith takes advantage of the pot of herbs and hisses a little when he washes his hands.
Arcadia bows her head slightly and puts the rest of the rainbow pearls away.
"It wouldn't be a matter of paying you, but if these were taken from your village, I would want to ensure they were returned." She says with a smile. "But thank you."
When Arcadia dips her hands into the water, she makes a little 'oof' sound and wrinkles her nose. "Poison myself a thousand times and still I want to avoid the sting of cleaning wounds," she says, mostly to herself.
Arcadia nods, looking around the room, then to Faith.
"I think I'll stay here for a bit and finish my last mistake for the evening." She gestures to the roughly half full sunset cocktail. "It's nice to be in a firelit tavern again. But thank you, as always, for the company." She leans forward a bit to look at Pakshee.
"Let her know I thank her for hers as well, whenever she wakes." She says with a grin.
"Safeguarding papers? Hmm. Well I feel comfortable saying we could get Gelik to help us with that, if you felt comfortable using him as a resource. Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure, but will happily dig into it for you. As to the other... I have no doubt I can find books of questionable taste. I'll find a few bookshops, ensure they aren't afraid of the risque, and report back so you can make the pick yourself."
She shakes her head. "That's an excellent gift choice for Zaine, by the way. I seem to recall at one point he wanted a haunted dagger, too. If I happen to come by one of those while I'm out, I'll let you know."
"I will," Faith says. "Maybe next time I'll be curled up asleep and you can talk to Pakshee."
He leans Pakshee upright, nudging her closer to wakefulness. "Now we just have to find our way down the hall."
"Hah," Faith says. "A haunted dagger. That boy...."
Before Arcadia leaves, "Thank you. I will be here for as many days as this takes."
He laughs, "I to would prefer that any feasting we do be a pleasure for both of us." That smile again and another kiss on her hand.
"Interesting" a hint of seriousness in his previously playful eyes, "it sounds like it could still be a very dangerous place. It might be good if someone official went out there occasionally to make sure no one tries to reproduce your heroics. Or utilizes what you uncovered."
She puts the weapon down gently, rubs her hand over his. "When do lessons start?" Her excitement showing in the big smile, and in the little happy dance of her shoulders.
Zaine watches the handwashing with some interest.
He thinks it over. "Lessons start as soon as you like."