[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: Our heroes debated the morals of killing goblins without trying to talk to them first, and then they looted the bodies and ran for town. Then they stopped a short distance away and rested for a few hours.] [It's dawn now, or shortly after, and the sun is finally beginning to penetrate the forest canopy so it can shine irritatingly in the faces of our heroes.] [Session... START] * The sun shines brightly in Emmet's face through a hole in the forest canopy. * Emmet squints his eyes tightly shut and sits up, every movement stiff. * Fadi opens his eyes and stretches uncomfortably. "I never knew the floor could hurt so much..." He checks his foot, which had gotten bashed by the stupid goblin in the fight. * The sun shines brightly in Harold's face, too. * Tiffany awakens with a sheen of sweat covering her fragile form. Her right hand is clenched tightly around a small bottle that she withdrew from her pack in the night. Her hair and clothing are mussed from the night. Wuh, my neck... Nrrgh.. * Emmet rubs at his eyes with the back of his left hand while trying to massage his neck with his right. He sits forward as far as he can, stretching his back out as well. * Nick turns over a few times and grunts before finally sitting up, brown hair in a state of incredible disarray. * Tiffany rolls over slowly and sits up, her knuckles a gentile white. "M... morning." * Nick makes various orc-like sounds as he rubs out his eyes. * Emmet continues to stretch for a minute or two before standing very carefully and looking around the woods where he and the others scattered themselves last night. "Morning. Sleep well?" * Fadi looks around, looking somewhat refreshed considering the circumstances. "Yeah, mornin'." He gets up and folds his now rather dirty blanket. "So, we're goin' back to town now, right?" * Tiffany stands timidly and nodds. She picks up her pack with a gentile grimace and straps it on her back. * Nick stands up with a bit of difficulty and starts packing up his bedroll, mutely. * Emmet tries to smooth out his rumpled and slightly dirty jeans and shirt with his hands. "Are we? We could cache these things here and go back for another look. Maybe we'll find Haro-- oh, there he is." * Fadi pulls up his backpack, which is loaded down with lotsa stuff. He walks into the clearing, his greatsword straped to his back. "So, who's here and who, um... isn't?" * Emmet points at Harold's sleeping body, and takes another look around. "But now Sophie's gone." * Harold sits up quickly, as if startled out of some kind of deep dream. "... uwaugh! I'm-- er-- um?" * Tiffany looks over at Harold, "You missed the end of the nightmare." She turns back to the path and looks down it as if pondering what lay upon the horizon. * Fadi sighs. "Nothing we can do about it, eh? Well, pack-up. I think we should get moving soon so we make it back today." * Nick dons his leather armor, placing the mace and sword on a hip each. With a few quick motions, he has his backpack on and is carrying the armor. "..." * Emmet walks over to Harold and sets the boy's crossbow down beside him. "You dropped this before you, uh... disappeared." * Tiffany snaps out of her daydream. "Should we get walking?" * Harold rises shakily to his feet, grabbing hold of his crossbow and mounting it on his backpack as he does. "... thank you...." Yes, let's get moving. Especially if we actually did what I think we did. * Fadi takes a deep breath. "Yeah, we did it. I'm never going to forget that look, either... But if this is what we need to do, then there's nothing we can do about it." * Emmet goes back to his own pack and goes about putting all of the stuff back into it. "Are we going back to town or are we going for another look?" Well... we're not sure we got all of them, but we're also overburdened with stuff... so unless we plan to leave it behind, we may want to just head back. Do you want to go back there and risk your neck to kill more of those goblin things? I... * Nick just stands nearby and waits, mutely. * Tiffany gathers her wits and turns back to Fadi, "I said I'd do what I had to do. If it's what we have to do I'll... I'll do it." I just wanted to know what we're supposed to do, and how we're going to do it. Yeah. And I don't want to go out and get myself beat sensless for no reason at all. * Quite suddenly Sophie appears back where she was when everybody went to sleep. .oO(Tired. Cranky. Want people to move. Soon. Zug.) Let's go back for now, yes-- augh! * Harold is startled badly by Sophie's sudden appearance. * Nick glances over at Sophie with half-closed eyes, nods, and goes back to staring at the sky. * Emmet takes an instinctive step away from the spot where Sophie appeared and eyes the fencer warily. * Tiffany turns her glazed eyes on Sophie and appears unflustered. "Morning. We're just setting out." * Fadi is looking away. "Yes what? Ye-" He turns around and sees Sophie. "Oh." * Sophie blinks at Harold and runs a hand through her hair. "Yes, it's getting to be a mess. I wonder if they have combs on this world?" No, it's just-- If they don't, I bet they'll be more than receptive to the idea. Now, what does everyone plan to do? * Harold stops and sighs. "... never mind. But I really want to get to the bottom of that..." * Tiffany reaches slowly into her backpack and pulls out her purse. Inside her makeup case is a small comb, which she holds out to Sophie. "You should always carry such things with you. You never know when they'll be useful." * Sophie takes the comb and smiles. "You can say that again. Thanks." She starts combing her hair. * Emmet shrugs. "I plan to go where the rest of you go. We're not going to get any closer to home by splitting up and wandering around aimlessly." Well I plan on heading back to town, and seeing what else we can do. * Tiffany nods and turns bak to Fadi. "Well, let's carry this stuff back to town and ask how many more there are. At the least, if they find the corpses of their comrades, that'll put a bit of fear into them. I hope." * Sophie finishes and hands the comb back to Tiffany. "Yes, we should get back as soon as possible." Nngh. * Tiffany accepts the comb and takes her time putting away the makeup case, purse, and comb. * Fadi nods. "And what about you two, eh?" He looks at Harold and Nick. I-- ngh, understand, I'm a little disoriented... * Nick shakes his head. "I don't care.." But we probably should return to town. I don't think going on further blindly is a good idea. * Emmet takes the morning star back out of his backpack, because they're no easy way to keep it inside. He resigns himself to holding his axe in one hand and the morning star in another, and to waiting. * Fadi stretches. "Let's get going then. I don't want to chance any more encounters than we have to..." * Sophie stretches and nods to Fadi. "Well, let's be on our way." She starts walking for the town. * Tiffany nods and silently follows, gripping the bottle in her fist tightly. * Fadi starts walkin' to town. "Com'on people. We don't have all day, ya know." * Emmet falls into line without another word. He scans the trees and pathway with slightly more suspicion than he had done yesterday. * Harold goes along with the others. It's hard to tell if he's being pensive, or trying very hard _not_ to think... either way, he's definitely quiet. * Tiffany stares sullenly at the ground in front of her feet, eyes glazed over as if deep in thought. Her only signs of life are the steady plod of her feet and the constant gripping and releasing of her right hand. * Harold suddenly... well, he doesn't stop, but he slows _very_ much, and suddenly whispers in an audible but soft voice. "... something's behind us." * Fadi slows down when Harold mentions this, and also speaks in a hushed tone. "Can't we go anywhere without getting chased by something..." * Sophie frowns to herself and nods to Fadi. It's... jabbering. It may be more goblins, it sounds like the... noises they made, then. They're... excited. Or angry. * Emmet very nearly drops the morning star he's carrying in his left hand to allow himself a better grip on his axe. "Should we go back? Or run?" * Tiffany continues to walk, apparently ignorant to the conversation of her friends. * Sophie shrugs. "Why don't we just ask them?" * Fadi pulls out a dagger in his right hand. "Yeah, okay. Sure, ask the goblin-type things... Maybe someone should turn around?" * Sophie shrugs and halts, then turns around. * Emmet slows down and looksover his shoulder before turning back to the others. "You said we were supposed to fight these things to help defend the town, right?" * Fadi stops, looking over his shoulder for anything that would be producing the sound that Harold mentioned. * There don't appear to be any goblins in the immediate vicinity. * Nick is plodding behind the group, slowly waking up. * A raccoon peeks out at Fadi from behind a tree. They're farther off, not just behind us... I think we'd have time to get away from them. * Sophie rolls her eyes at Harold. "Then why were you whispering?" * Sophie peers, trying to catch sight of the whatever-they-ares. ... because if it _is_ goblins, and one of them can hear as well as I can, then they know we're here, too. Yeah, okay. I get what you're saying, but are you sure those are goblins and not just your imagination? * Tiffany finally stops, quite a way farther down the path. She looks up and notes that the party is no longer in front of her before turning back to them. So, what are we doing? * Emmet looks apt to drop the morningstar at a moment's notice. * Sophie shrugs and starts walking again. "I don't see anyone. I'm _very_ sure. Let's get out of here as quickly and quietly as we can. We should just move on. It's a bit too late to ask them anything. * Fadi nods. "Let's go." * Fadi starts walking again as well. * Emmet walks with the others, though now he looks behind the group as much as he does ahead or to the sides. * Tiffany returns to her plodding pace. * Out of nowhere, goblin screams break the near-silence of the forest, and then are cut short, one by one. ... There's something killing goblins back there. I say we get away from it as fast as possible. Agreed? * Sophie halts for just a second, then starts walking again, a bit faster. "Sounds like they found it." * Tiffany turns back at the noise. "Uhh... we should be running... NOW... I'm just not sure which direction." Follow the river, right? * Fadi walks faster as well. * Sophie nods. * Nick starts walking faster, finally awake but still silent. * Tiffany eventually nods "Fine, we won't find out what's doing it" and turns back to the group, jogging slightly to keep pace. * Emmet walks faster as well, trying to keep from falling into a double step march and outpacing the others. * The last scream breaks off, and the forest is more silent than before. * Sophie looks at Tiffany. "Do you want to?" * Fadi packs his dagger away. I... don't know. The enemy of my enemy isn't always my friend. Isn't always an enemy, either. * Emmet has nothing to add to the conversation. He's just trying to keep pace with his companions. * A dark-skinned man dressed all in dark brown and black steps out onto the path in front of you. * Sophie halts. "Uh... Hello." * Harold runs along with the group, stopping just short as the dark-skinned man appears. "-- augh!" * Fadi stops suddenly, eyeing the dark-skinned man. * Tiffany stops in her tracks and quickly grabs for her darts with her left hand, refusing to drop what's in her right. * Nick comes to a halt. "..Anybody you guys know?" * The man is well armed, having two daggers at his belt beside a longsword, and a bow slung on his back, currently unstrung. * Emmet slows his pace dramatically and finally drops the morningstar. He watches the man carefully. "I don't know him," he admits. * Fadi shakes his head, not moving from his position. I... uh.. um... We're... * The man looks you over appraisingly, then speaks in a low, gravelly voice, "Who are you? Why are you here?" * Fadi clears his throat. "We're going back to town... Why?" ... w-we're-- they sent us out here to fight the goblins, because we have the Auryn, and... er... * The man quirks an eyebrow. "They?" * Emmet casts a nervous glance over his shoulder, and in the general direction of the goblin screams. He quickly turns his attention back to the man before them. * Harold babbles as a sort of sinking terror grips the pit of his stomach. There's no way they could get lucky fighting this man if he wanted to kill them. "The people at the town the librarian sent us to..." * Fadi looks over the guy, who's obviously much better at what he does than the rest of the group. He tries not to let this bother him, though, and does a pretty good job of it. * The man frowns darkly. "They sent... _you_ to kill goblins. Why? You're not adventurers." * Tiffany stops and swallows deeply before pulling her hand away from her darts. "We ARE adventurers. Draghmal and Alfred sent us out here." * Fadi shrugs. "Apparently that came with the package when we wound up here..." Dunno why, though.. * Harold is at a loss for a reply to the man, mostly because the decision never made a whole lot of sense to him, either. * Emmet trusts most of the others to do all the talking for all of them, and remains silent and wary. Draghmal and Alfred. Sent you out here. * Sophie nods. * Tiffany finally perks up. "Yes. I don't know if you'd recognize their reasoning, but this will sum it up as well as anyone can. It's because of this." Tiffany proceeds to turn around and pull her hair over her shoulder, revealing the Auryn on her back. * The man's frown deepens. "Go back to them. Show Alfred those damned weapons. And for Hagbard's sake, don't come back out here until you know what the hells you're doing." I like this guy. Let's listen to him. Will do. * Tiffany appears to want an argument more than her comrades. "If you'll excuse me for saying so, oh great woodsman, we didn't do too badly taking out the group that showed up last night." * Sophie looks at Tiffany in surprise. No, you didn't. Too bad you didn't clean up after yourselves. If I hadn't cleaned up for you, when you came back, the entire camp of goblins would have been on alert. * Fadi frowns. .oO(Talking about killing stuff is NOT something you tell just anyone.) As it is, they'll be more alert than usual because they've lost two scout patrols. * Emmet looks over his shoulder again, and then back at the man. "I should have realized that," he mutters to himself. * Fadi hrmmms... "Yeah, I guess there aren't any paramedics around here to clean up the bodies..." * Sophie shrugs at Fadi. "They would have noticed if we killed them whether we hid the bodies or not, I'd bet. It just might take a bit longer." * Tiffany shrugs and positions herself in front of the man (who is much taller than she is). "We did a damn good job, and putting them on alert is none of my concern. If it's yours, more power to you. We're heading back to town, if you'll kindly step aside." * Emmet winces at Tiffany's incindiary remarks. * Sophie looks again at Tiffany in surprise. * Fadi shrugs and let's Tiffany try to talk her way out. * The man steps aside. * Tiffany strides proudly past the man, making a "Tsch" noise on the way by. * The man's scowl changes to a tiny smile as Tiffany walks past. * Harold winces... he had been wondering about that, but was just too overwhelmed to bring it up. Aside from the whole "disappearing" thing. ..Impressive. * Fadi chuckles as he follows Tiffany. * Nick nods to the guy and follows the party prima donna. * Harold goes after Tiffany, looking almost embarrassed. * Sophie looks from Tiffany to the man and back, then continues on. * Emmet stares after Tiffany in amazement for a moment, then moves to follow the others. He pauses in front of the armed man for a moment. "Excuse me, sir? Could I ask you your name?" I'm Alexis of Cold Harbor. I'm Emmet, of Pensacola. It was nice to meet you, sir. * Emmet resists the urge to salute before hurrying after the others. * Fadi glances back at the man and smirks. He continues on with the par-tay. * Alexis steps off the path and disappears to your senses. * Harold shivers a little. "He was around us the _entire time_...." * Tiffany is really freaked out by the disappearance of the man... though only her eyes let on. * Fadi shrugs. "So? He could have killed us if he wanted to, easily. But he didn't, so don't let it bother you." Really? * Emmet smiles slightly and just follows the group. If his expression is any judge, he's thinking something like 'So cool!' Really. It makes me pretty... well... pardon my French, but PISSED. Man, next time, try not to say stuff that'll get your head ripped off. * A bird chirps overhead. Hey, I think ya did a good job. How can I not let it bother me?? Either Alfred and Draghmal sent that goon to tail us... in which case I'm mad that they didn't trust us... or they knew about him... in which case they had us mess up Alexs's plans. Either way, we were used more than I bargained for. * Emmet shakes his head and goes back to watching the trail behind them and the forest around them. * Tiffany turns to Fadi and nods, "Thanks." ..Or the guy just showed up.. Too convenient for my tastes. * Sophie blinks at Tiffany. "I didn't think of that." Whatever. I want to get back and turn this smelly armor into gold. 'possible they sent that guy after us, thinking we couldn't handle it. Oh! But we won't know until we talk to them, will we? Used? ... I never considered that. * Emmet stops and sprints back up the trail. He grabs the morningstar from the spot where he'd let it fall, and then runs quickly back to the group without a word. Which is why we're headed back. It's all about... how did he put it... getting "anything to obey your will." Hmmm... I don't think Alfred sent him. Remember, he asked why we were there? Well, I suppose he could have been a skillful liar, but... I don't know, I didn't get that impression. I think we should consider the possibility that Draghmal and Alfred didn't know about him. Like I said before. He did say he was from... Cold Harbor? I think that's a different city... Perhaps that guy just frequents these parts? Kinda like his territory. * Sophie nods to Fadi. He dismissed us pretty once he saw the Auryn and heard the names I mentioned. If he didn't know them, he was letting us off lightly. They probably didn't send him. But that doesn't mean they don't know about him. Well, he might know them, but not vice versa.... I guess I don't know, really. * Sophie shrugs. "No sense in troubling ourselves with it until we get back, I suppose." I'm up for asking. I'll only be mildly annoyed at being sent out so unprepared if they didn't know or send Alex. * Emmet has little to add to the conversation, as usual. I agree. Getting worried that much isn't good for you... But you can be certain we're getting answers when we get back. * Fadi smirks. Well, asking is good. We just may want to be delicate about this... they're the only allies we have right now, it wouldn't do to alienate them. * Nick shrugs and leaves the discussion to those wiser than he. * Tiffany looks down, suprised to still see the bottle in her fist, and quickly pockets it. "Well, we have a long walk ahead of us. I'll be cooled off when we get there." * Sophie nods. How are you feeling, by the way? * Tiffany removes her hand lightning-quick from her backpack. "Better. I'm... adjusting. If this is something we're going to have to do, I'll get used to it. Letting loose on that guy was... refreshing. I should apologize if we see him again, though." Don't worry 'bout it too much. If he was really pissed at you he woulda smacked you then and there. * Tiffany smiles, "And I'da deserved it. But what's life without a little risk?" I dunno. I don't think you were wrong. I think a "little risk" is the best we can hope for after all this. * Fadi smiles as he looks up. "Exactly." After what we did last night, I can think of a lot of risks that are going to seem a lot smaller now. * Tiffany lets out a deep breath. "Y'know, if I can get past one or two gruesome bits... I think I could get to enjoy this 'adventuring.'" * Emmet allows himself another smile. "It's more exciting than high school, anyway." Either that or we'll be so de-sensitized it won't matter. Works for me. I think you could get to enjoy the fast-talking. * Harold smiles. A little. I already do. I already do. * Sophie grins. Wish I could fast-talk.. Or, hell, be useful. * Fadi chuckles as he pulls out his shades and puts them on. * Tiffany is obviously resisting the urge to say "You can carry stuff for us" and instead lets out, "You're of great use, Nick. I feel much safer with you there." ..Yeah, sure. * Sophie chuckles. "I'm sure we can find a use for you, Nick." You'll find something you can do. Something tells me we all will... I'm good as long as I'm not dinner. I think we don't have time to angst about being useful or not. * Emmet smirks. * The day's trek seems much shorter now that people are talking regularly, and soon the gates of the town are in sight. * The "gates" in this case being the nearest gap between two outlying houses. * Sophie continues on. "Let's go see Alfred." * The clanging of Alfred's hammer pounding metal into shape carries all the way to where you are, calling to you to keep going. * Tiffany nods and begins to make a beeline for the forge. * Fadi crackes his knuckles. "Let's." * Nick just plods onward. "I need to see that leatherworker soon.." @_@ Gonna get that thing resized or what? * Emmet readjusts his grip on the weapons he carries and keeps pace with his comrades. * Sophie follows along. "Why not just take it off when you're not using it?" Nah, but maybe he can take the studs out and put them in my armor. * Another few minutes and our heroes arrive at Alfred's smithy. Alfred appears not to have noticed their arrival. * Tiffany moves within the forge to a safe distance and tries to signal Alfred to stop. "Alfred!" Hey, Alfred! Got anywhere for me to drop this stuff? * Fadi stays silent. * Sophie folds her arms. "Hullo, Alfred." * Alfred looks up for a moment and nods, then calmly goes back to finishing up whatever he's working on. * Harold lets Tiffany do the talking for now. ...I'll just ask later. * Emmet stands silently near the back of the group, suddenly acutely aware that his clothing is still remarkably out of place here. * Tiffany looks a bit annoyed by the inattentiveness of the mayor, but stands patiently waiting for him to finish. * Alfred calmly finishes his current bit of work and sets it back to warming in the fire. "Back already?" Need.. to.. dump.. armor.. Then pick a corner. Actually, we were hoping to ask a few more questions. We dispatched a few of the goblins and brought their stuff back, of course. Do you know an Alexis of Cold Harbor? * Nick nods quickly, picks a corner, and starts depositing smelly goblin weapons and armor. * Fadi glances over, then starts depositing more of the same there. * Sophie doesn't have anything to deposit. Yes. Why? Is he here? Well, he's off finding a way to take care of the goblin problem. And he's quite mad that you sent us out to muss up his plans. He met us in the forest... and, ah, told us not to go back. Apparently we'd caused some troubles by not killing some goblins properly.... * Alexis swings down from a ceiling beam and plants his feet squarely in Alfred's back, sending him sprawling across the room. * Tiffany takes this opportunity to look startled. * Alfred goes sprawling. @_@ * Fadi looks up just in time to see this. He barely keeps himself from cracking up. * Emmet steps up beside Tiffany and rests the morningstar gently on the ground, still holding it by the end of its less dangerous side. "He said we sh--it!" * Sophie takes a step back. She reaches for her sword, but doesn't draw it. * Harold staggers backward, his heart jumping and cold shock spreading through his chest. * Alexis hangs from the beam for a moment and then drops easily to the floor. "You've gone soft in the head, Paladin." * Alfred slowly picks himself up from the floor. "Go bugger yourself. Why the hell are you in my town?" * Fadi finishes depositing the goblin-loot and stands up, looking at the two thru his shades. * Tiffany moves to help Alfred up. "I'm calmed to see you know each other. I suppose this means I overreacted in front you as well, Alexis. Well met." * Alexis nods at Tiffany. "No offense taken. You just might have what it takes to be an adventurer." * Harold doesn't know what shocks him more, the fact that this is happening or how masterfully Tiffany is handling it. * Alexis turns his gaze back on Alfred. "But that doesn't excuse this fool for sending you out with no training to handle an army of goblins." * Tiffany smiles at Alexis, enjoying the dialogue. "I have to lean toward agreement, Alfred. Why us?" * Emmet can't resist the urge to chime in. "I thought it might be an army. They didn't have many supplies when we found them, but their weapons look almost as good as the ones here. Uh, to me." He grabs the morningstar more firmly and holds it up for Alfred to see. * Fadi stands, his arms crossed. If he looks surprised, it's pretty hard to tell. * Alfred dusts himself off and grabs the morningstar. He flips it over and peers at the head. "This is mine." Meaning? How did they get them? Probably by raiding a peddler on the way out from here. * Fadi raises an eyebrow. * Nick blinks slightly. It's well cared for, too. Goblins don't care for their weapons. That means someone is organizing them. * Emmet blinks his susrprise and lets his now-empty hand drop to his side. "But..." he trails off quietly and lets the others do the talking again. Lovely. * Harold 's brows knit, too. This is getting increasingly complicated... * Tiffany gazes evenly at the two men, not noting if she is convinced by Alfred's assertions or not. Like I said. There's no excuse for sending untrained people up against a goblin army. I'm not sure how many there are, but it's gotta be a fair number. ..Who'd want to organize those things? Someone who's reeeeaaaly desperate. No one with good intentions. Someone with no taste. Depends. Sometimes a goblin warlord will pop up. Sometimes orcs will do it, sometimes bigger things. Ogres like to bully them around, but I don't think an ogre would make them take care of their weapons. A human. * Tiffany continues to gaze evenly at the two men, her cold stare well rehearsed. * Emmet looks from Alexis to Alfred, his curiosity plain to see. * Alfred sighs. "Or a human." * Fadi keeps his eyes on the two. * Nick is busy sitting down and revelling in his unencumbered state. ... would I be right if I guessed that you had a particular human in mind? Yes, but I'm not sure which one. ... so... more than one particular human? Hey, maybe there's more than one. The world is full of scum, right? There are lots of ambitious people, and goblins are easy to dominate. How nice. A free army available at anyone's whim. It's not that much different than back home, really. Maybe not where you come from. ... not just where he was from. Well, I guess 'evil overlord' is as good a job as any. Can't have good benefits, though. * Emmet shifts uncomfortably. "Well, it's not like this where I'm from. Everything is much more... under control there. So what to we do to bring the problem *here* under control?" First off, we get you six some training. * Sophie shrugs. "Logic says to take out the person in charge, but..." She nods at Alfred. * Fadi scratches his head. "Take out the leader, the rest should crumble, right?" If what Alfred says is true, they should be disorganized after that. While you're getting some training in, we'll be gathering information. When we think you're ready, we'll leave a few people here to defend the town, and the rest of us old timers will go and distract the goblin army for a while. And you've already figured out the rest of it. * Tiffany nods, "Take out the leader, but before that, training. And first off, we have this equipment to sell. We didn't bring it back here for sport, I hope." Since you six can't stand up to the army, guess which job you get. * Sophie shrugs. She didn't bring back anything to sell :P Taking out the leader? Precisely. Sounds fine. ... we should do it! * Fadi chuckles. "Oh goody." * Emmet allows himself another faint smile. Despite the dangerous situation, he can't deny the excitement. "So, who will train us?" * Fadi shrugs. "Ya got me." Whoever you choose to train under. If you can get them to agree, anyway. I'm available. If Alexis doesn't agree, I'll kick his ass up between his ears. Draghmal's here, and Feld, and Blind Edward, too. * Tiffany smiles. "Well, I'll be looking for Draghmal. I owe his crystal ball one already." Nobody wants me to teach them. * Emmet looks immediately to Alexis. "I do, sir." * Alfred snorts. No you don't. Who should I ask for training? I think I would too, but I promised the Dragon-man I'd be back. I'll talk to you about it later. ..Yeah, I need to find someone.. * Alfred glances at Sophie. "Me. You're too good a fighter already to waste on anybody else." * Emmet frowns a little at Alexis, clearly getting a bit stubborn. "Why wouldn't I?" I'm flattered. Because you can't handle it. * Fadi scratches his head. "Where do ya think I'd fit, then?" I'll ask the priest! We seemed to get along well enough... * Emmet bristles. "Want to bet, sir?" What do you have to wager? * Tiffany reaches into her pack and pulls out a handfull of gold coins. "It isn't much, but I'm betting on Emmet." I'll take that bet. One Solar, Tiffany? I have some coins in my pack, and this axe. * Fadi laughs. "I'll wager on Emmet. I think he's good enough for it." * Tiffany smiles. "Jerk! Not betting on your friend! You're on! Show 'em Emmet!" Looks like your friends have as much faith in you as you have in yourself. Hey, I have confidence in him. I'm just giving you someone to bet against. Maybe you won't all die, after all. Fine. It's a bet. I'll meet ALL your wagers. * Emmet tries to hold back the ghost of a grin. "Good. Thank you, sir." Deal! and now on to more pressing matters. We're hoping to sell the equipment we brought back, if you'll buy it Alfred. * Fadi pulls out a pair of lunars and smirks. "I'd wager more, but I'm short on cash." He flips them one at a time at Alexis. Leave it here. I'll collect the appropriate compensation and get it to you tomorrow. You should all get some rest tonight. Hey, do either of you guys have a recommendation for me? * Alexis looks Nick up and down. * Alfred looks Nick up and down. * Alexis turns to Alfred. * Nick stands up, glancing at both of them. * Tiffany turns to Nick. Looks him up and down. Smirks. * Alfred turns to Alexis. * Both speak simultaneously. "Blind Edward." ..Who now? Blind Edward. A master of gadgetry and traps. Too bad he couldn't spot a trap if you pointed it out to him. * Fadi chuckles. * Alexis looks around. "Anybody else in doubt?" * Fadi raises his hand. ..Oh, OK. Not I. * Alexis looks Fadi up and down for a moment. * Fadi looks back at Alexis thru his shades. * Nick looks like he has a lot of faith in his suggested trainer. He's also a fair hand with small, quick weapons, and a fair acrobat. Acrobat? Sounds like something I can do! I'd say stay with Alfred. See if you can pick up a little fighting. If you don't like it, find something you like better later. * Fadi nods. "Sure." You might do well under Blind Edward, too. * Sophie folds her arms and leans against the wall. * Tiffany smiles and nods to the men. "Well, thank you both for your time. I'm glad everything's straightened out. For now, I'm off to the Inn, unless you have more pressing matters than my beauty sleep to discuss." Beauty sleep sounds good. I need all the beauty I can get. * Sophie nods. "I agree." I'll see you in the morning. * Nick sticks his tongue out at Sophie and staggers off. * Fadi waves his hand as he walks off. "See ya in the mornin'." * Emmet turns to go with the others. * Alexis grabs Emmet by the nape of the neck as he tries to leave. "Where do you think _you're_ going?" * Tiffany bows slightly and leaves, "Good night, gentlemen." * Sophie waves at Nick's back. "Good night, Tiffany." * Emmet stops. "... Erk. Uh... With you, sir?" Night, Sophie. Very good. Welcome to the tenth level of Hell. * Alexis drags Emmet off by the nape of the neck. Do good Emmet, we got money ridin' on this. * Harold slips off toward the Inn, too, suddenly very glad that he decided to see if he could get the priest to train him. * Sophie snickers at Emmet as he's dragged off. "You get what you bargained for, I guess." * Emmet is dragged for a few steps before gathering his courage and following Alexis on his own. Well, he *did* insist on having the ranger train him... Wonder what this Blind Edward's like. * Fadi walks to the inn, taking his shades off and stashing them. "I bet he's blind." [Session... END]