Asthera Land of Magic

"HAY, I take offence to that!" huffed Lorraine, "I am a closer relative to lizards then moneys!"

She grabbed the pouch and pulled out a pile of money, "Here! Take the useless things!" Even though it was mostly a pile of coppers and silvers she still managed to overpay him 5 gold.

"I was just interested in asking you to join our adventure and some basic interview questions had to be asked and answered..."

The then look him in the eye and pulled her hand out of her sleeve to reveal a flea, "This is mine now by the way. And your not getting it back." she promptly ate it.

She growled, "And to think I was going to give you the pile of scape metal at home AND an adventure. And you still never answered to your opinion of toast! We can't have people who can't tell us if they have taste buds or not! Not even if your a fire mage."

She then stomped behind Arrmirra and looked grouchy crossing her arms and informing her guard spell to shock him if he gets too close.

The whole thing was getting difficult. The wilding was angry with them. Honoka understood why; they fell on him, he got hurt, his metal orb thing was broken. Lorraine was angry at the wilding because he called her a monkey and Honoka understood why Lorraine was upset. Amirriah was trying to get them out of there before something else bad happened. And it was.
Honoka began breathing harder as the boy glowered at them. He said he wanted someone to pay, he said money, but Honoka didn't think that was all he wanted. His stuff was damaged. She wasn't sure if he wanted an apology or a fight.
The wind slowly built up at Honoka's feet. It grabbed the moisture from the rain and slowly turned into a small wispy fog. Lorraine getting angrier and stomping behind Amirriah only upset Honoka more. She wanted to get away, or at least find safety. The fog was her safety. It could hide her from them, from the fighting.
The fog circled her ankles and then climbed up her legs to her knees. Her breathing got faster and less controlled. the fog grew feeding off her worry.

The fog around Honoka's leg caught Amirriah's attention. She really didn't want to draw anymore eyes to them. With a soft hand she bent down and hugged Honoka to her. "Please Honoka you need to calm down." She whispered softly. "I know this is stressful but you need to control yourself. If too many people start to get curious and the wrong people find out how strong you are, we all could be in serious trouble." Amirriah softly stroked Honoka's hair. "Please, just relax and stay calm." Amirriah straightened up, still keeping Honoka close, and turned to the Wildling. "I am deeply sorry about this mishap and about your puzzle. I am sure Lorraine gave you more than enough for it. Now please calm yourself a bit. You are making both this poor girl and I nervous. You fire mages all seem to have a nasty temper and i'm not to fond of what happens when you're pushed to your limits."

She had sensed his powers not to long after she had come down to make sure everyone was alright and his little outburst had only made it even more clear to her. Ever since her mishap with Asynthe Orcrelland she was never too fond of fire mages of magic, though she herself knew some simple spells.

Her right hand came to unconsciously scratch at the back of her left arm. "C'mon girls, let's leave him be."

Arroun nearly dropped the money and the puzzle both in surprise at the cascade of coins. The flighty girl's reaction simply took the wind out of his sails. But it was the other girl's reaction that set him back on his heels. The breeze that sprang from nowhere carried her scent, and the fog that rose from the damp cobbles chilled his ankles as streamed across the stones to wrap about the girl's feet.

Stunned by the sudden turn of events, his anger evaporated completely, his tail drooping as the stunning blonde tried to soothe the panicked airmage. When they turned to go, he stared after them, completely at a loss. For a moment, the money in his hands urged him to simply be on his way, but...

He gave a little start, then jolted into a run, catching up and nimbly ducking past them. "Wait! Please wait!" He jogged backwards a few steps in front of them, then stopped in their path, still holding the money and the puzzle in his cupped hands. "Please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten any of you. I had little sleep during the storm, and, well," he quirked his lips in a sheepish grin, one ear drooping slightly, "I wasn't expecting to have a cute girl and and a crazed iguana to leap off a roof and land on me."

Awkwardly, he shifted the pile of money in his palms, and held out one hand with a bit over half the pile toward the brunette. "You did say you were closer to a lizard, yes? You overpaid, and I wouldn't really have got more than seven gold, anyway." Five gold, really, but his honesty only went so far. "And I hate toast. Any kind of bread, really. My stomach won't abide it. How did you know that I'm a mage?" His curiosity about that burned. She couldn't possibly tell by his smell, humans couldn't smell sewage if they were swimming in it, and even amongst wildlings, he didn't think many shared his talent for sniffing out magic users.

To him, mages always smelled of their powers, usually in a way related to the way they used it. His own smell, when he noticed it, whiffed of coke ash and hot iron. To a wildling without magical ability, the scent would be faint, almost unnoticed. A human, even a human mage, should smell nothing. Elves, he wasn't sure of. Or lizards.

"Oh ho ho! Excellent! Yet another who hate toast!" she laughed, she pushed his hand back thought, "but seriously; as I said money is useless to me."

Lorraine chuckled as she saw all eyes on her, "Ah about you being a fire mage; it's quite simple! Lizards have noses. I don't know why regular humans have bad noses."

She hopped around him, giggling, "I bet your curious to what I really am!" she stopped to face everybody, "I'd love to tell you, but I'm not aloud. See my first master he studied...um....whazit called...narcolepsy! You know; for the people who fall asleep and never wake up?"

Finding an empty crate she sat on it, "Oh what he did was super illegal; see he tried to wake one of them up. But instead of her sprit he just got mine; silly! I was going to be reincarnated anyways! Realizing his mistake he made this book that shouts words into my brain! Then he told me to follow people and make them my masters!"

She chuckled heartily falling off the crate, "It's been a lot of fun this round! Really different! I'll almost be sad when I turn back to normal." She put a finger in her mouth, "My teeff and clawffs arff alreaffdy startin to fome baff fin!" she pulled it out, "That's why I wear long sleeves! So no one can see!"

Amirriah stared at Lorraine for a moment before pulling a slightly awkward smile and patting her on the head. "That's very nice Sweetie." said she. Amirriah made a mental note to ask more about her past masters and that book thing later.

She turned to the wildling, her smile softening. "Thank you for your honesty about the money, but there is no getting through to this one." She ruffled Lorraine's hair bit. Amirriah gave the wildling an  apologetic look. "And please don't worry about frighten us, in fact i should apologize for my assumption about you. I've had a few... unpleasant encounters with fire mages that have made quite wary of those who play with fire." The corner of her mouth quirked in a bit of a smile. "As for knowing you were a fire mage, it's something I've always been able to do. I can sense peoples' auras through the earth. It is much like having a strong sense of smell. Mages' auras have a distinct feel to them, as do the different types. And if I concentrate hard enough, I am able to pick out a single person from a crowd, or find someone over great a distance."

To her, everyone had distinct colors and patterns. Most humans were just radiated a mix of various colors in dull shades, and in uneventful pluses. But mages were quite different. They were bight and exciting, Like Kollon. His aura was a swirling mixture of stony-grey and soft azure. The wildling gave off glowing, intermittent pulses of orange-red and pale, almost white, yellow, like hot iron straight from a fire. Lorraine was a sporadic mess of pale blues and creamy white. Ventora produced flickering burst of deep shades of red and orange. Honoka was a pretty whorl of pure white and silvery-grey.

Honoka blushed at the wildings comment that she was cute. She had been told by others that she was cute, but they usually said it because they wanted her. He didn't say it the way the others did, there was no lust in his voice, no leering smile. She lowered her head sightly hoping he didn't notice that she was checking him out. She thought he was also kind of cute too.
Honoka stayed close to Amirriah just in case it was a trick. She had seen a few wildings at a distance, but never up close. She was more concerned because the wilding was a 'he'. She knew what men were capable of and how sneaky they could be. Honoka trusted Amirriah, she didn't totally understand why. Amirriah seemed very sisterly toward her and she soothed Honoka's flighty and unpredictable emotions.

The wilding and Amirriah also soothed her nerves and the fog slowly unwrapped from her legs lowering slowly to her feet and disappearing completely. The fog wasn't dangerous to others, but sometimes, when she was upset enough it was a precursor to the savage winds that she could create. They were not overpowering, like last nights storm. But if she used them on someone they could do damage.

Several passerbys slow only briefly at the scene with the elf, lizard, human and wilding and then continue. There's much to do and too much money to be had to waste watching or listening to a group doing almost nothing. The oddly behaved girl attracts most of the attention, but again, the interest is fleeting at best.

(The rest of the post is to give you guys an idea of what will be happening around you as the day progresses, so you can write accordingly)

The sounds of the town grow steadily louder. The movement of people more hurried. It will likely be this way most of the day and into the early parts of this evenings dark. For many, lunch will either be short or treated as a luxury they cannot afford. Instead of eating lunch, they will go for a light snack they can hold and carry (bread, a stuffed roll, an apple, etc); a months wages can be had in a few hours after a Chaser, and last night's storm was particularly damaging.
By late morning and early afternoon the town square, the shops, the carts and back alleys will be full of men and women making deals, selling, buying and exchanging goods. Some of the exchange will be legal, some will be made under the table; walking into the wrong narrow alley way, stepping into an abandoned building that really isn't abandoned can be lethal. Opportunity may abound, but caution must always be taken.

*****************
Allond takes refuge in his quarters. The night was exhausting. He takes his rest, his men and women scurry about, both inside the building and out in the streets, watching everybody and everything, taking note of all deals and money changing hands that Allond has a cut coming.
Allond and his adviser sleep waiting until Ventora shows up to let him know they are leaving.

The young wildling couldn't help but grin and laugh at the lizard girl's antic capering and bizarre story. Of course he believed none of it, but the alleys and tenements of Summerset were filled with lunatics and madmen of all sorts. At least the girl seemed well-meaning enough,even with that strange acid tang to her scent. The conversation seemed to have helped calm the girl with the long hair and stormy scent, as well.

Shrugging his shoulders to the elf girl, he slipped the coins into his bag. "If that's the way of it, I certainly won't argue. Of course," he held up the puzzle to show the lizard girl, affecting a high-class accent and a gravely serious expression, his tail-tip twitching with restrained humor, "For so much, I'll repair your new puzzle. Never let it be said that I disappointed a generous customer. My puzzles are renowned for difficulty, intricacy, and beauty. I am certain that even lizards appreciate them. The delicate craftsmanship, the exquisite sense of aesthetic, the brain-wracking difficulty their assembly... well, whatever." His serious demeanor slipped away as he grinned again.

"So, if I am not the infernal bogeyman, and you are not actively trying to murder me by squashing me into a greasy smear on the cobbles, perhaps I could ask what has you all leaping out of windows on such a fine day?" He slipped the puzzle into his bag to work on later, then ran his fingers through the wild main of his varegated hair. His fingers unconsciously stroked the thick iron collar at his throat as he let his hand fall.

"ADVENTURE!!" shouted Loraine, "Also I wanted to teach Honoka to air hop. Cause were going to adventure in a cave..."

She whispered quietly, "Ol' Crazy Eristhenes cave..." and began chuckling.

"So what brings you to the square in which you might get crushed by flying pedestrians? To sell you puzzles? Or...was it the allure of ADVENTURE?!"

She then began cackling and running circles around her friends.

Amirriah couldn't suppress a light chuckle as she watched Lorraine. "Sorry about her, she just a wee bit excited about exploring the caves in the cliffs." She gently grabbed Lorraine by her shoulders to cease her running. "I was just going to take these two back to my house to get something to eat and to start preparing for our little journey." She turned back to the wildling. "I'd be delighted if you joined us for lunch." She gave the him a sweet smile. "I still feel kind of bad for the whole mishap earlier. The least i can do is make you lunch."

Honoka hid using Amirriah to shield her from the excited girl. The girl's behavior is off-putting and seems dangerous. She keeps cackling about someone named 'Crazy E'. If she thinks this E person is crazy, he must be totally whacked. Her natural panicked state is made worse by being new to town. Everyone else seems to be from Sommerset, so they all probably know him or of him.

I'd be delighted if you joined us for lunch. I still feel kind of bad for the whole mishap earlier. The least i can do is make you lunch." Amirriah offered smiling. Honoka was surprised, but she didn't flinch over the offer. He seemed nice enough and she thought he was quite handsome. Honoka smiled a little, blushing as she did.

"I don't think I'm ready to airhop." she whispered in Amirriah's ear softly. Honoka had no idea what air hopping was, but it sounded dangerous.

Arroun couldn't help but laugh and spin in a circle as the brunette took off. He watched her through one lap, then followed her with his ears as the elf girl apologized. The name the brunette had whispered meant nothing to him, but he knew the cliffs were dangerous. Only slightly less dangerous than the abandoned neighborhood around the rockfall...

The blonde elf's invitation made his tail practically vibrate for a second before he could bring it under control. The rippling lash of the thick-furred appendage could hardly be missed, but he stilled it quickly as a wider grin split his face. "I'd have to be a fool to refuse that offer, wouldn't I? After all, I could take this whole encounter as a sign. Beautiful women don't exactly fall out of the sky every day." Still grinning, he ducked a quick bow and stood aside, gesturing for the girls to lead on.

"By the bye, my name is Arroun." He held out his hand, palm up, toward the black-haired girl that smelled of thunderstorm. "Charmed to meet you, Honoka. And you as well... Lorraine? And?" He turned last to the fair-haired elf, whose name had only been mentioned while he was still laying on the ground, struggling to breathe.

Amirriah smiled at Arroun widely. "Amirriah," she said with a small bow of her own. "Pleasure to meet you." She gave both of the girls a little pat on the back. "Alright, i think its 'bout time we wind down from this hectic morning with a hot lunch?" she took Lorraine and Honoka's hands in her's. She motioned for Arroun to follow then she started off in the direction of her home.

At her house she changed from the clothes she had weathered the storm in to something more suited for their adventure. She was now in a dark linen shirt, black jerkin, tights, and boots. She had also pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. On the back of her neck were pale pink scars.

Then she began to scrounge up something for lunch. She salvaged what she could from her mess of a garden and what was left from the last hunt Kollon had brought her and be made a thick stew.  While that cooked on the fire she found some fresh clothes for Honoka and Lorraine.

When the stew was done she pulled it off the fire and got four bowls for serving. "Eat up." she said.

Lorraine had been very happy to help salvage the garden; it was very informative! She was currently yakking Arroun's ears off about how, "Potato berries are also poisonous! Why can we make medicine from them?"

What she hadn't been to keen on was the clothes; they were certainly nice, basically her old clothes but clean and without patches, but the sleeves...

They were too short. When she had lifted up her hands to get her bowl of soup Amirriah visibly flinched. Upon every digit was a three inch claw; Her hands were honestly looking more like talons then hands.

Once inside the house Honoka's concerns quickly died. The house was not the most amazing place in town, but it was cozy and nicely furnished.
Honoka waited inside while Amirriah searched her garden. She remained in the room watching the wilding. He was interesting, in a lot of ways.
She watched Amirriah prepare the food. She was hungry, but she was more interested in what she is making and how she made it.
"It looks good." she said smiling as it cooked.
"Thank you." she said politely when she got the clothes. They were modest, but they were clean. Honoka hated to be dirty. She tried to wash her clothes every three days, but that wasn't always possible.
She went into the other room and dressed where no one could see. Honoka didn't want to embarrass the wilding by being naked in front of him. They fit, they were a little loose which was fine. Honoka's tight clothing was becoming difficult to wear. Getting her tunic on and off was a chore. These were nice.
"They're very nice." she smiled. "It looks better now." she said taking her bowl and eating. It was hot, so she ate it slowly. Lorraine's claws bothered her a bit so she sat closer to the wilding.
She didn't dislike Lorraine, but her behavior was so unnerving she decided to keep her distance. But she didn't want to upset the girl by being unfriendly either.
When she finished she sat watching the others waiting for instructions on what they were doing until the man returned.

Arroun followed Amirriah closely, unable to suppress a smile at his good fortune. Not only had luck brought him into the group he had overheard through the ceiling of the Blind Basilisk's common room, but the group at this point consisted of two stunning girls, and the third pretty, in a confusingly off-kilter way. He bantered with Lorraine on the way, in completely over his head on the merits of berries and medicine. He nodded in the right places, though, and asked questions when he could get in a word. By the time they reached Amirriah's home, Arroun thought his ears might fall off, not just from listening to the unbroken stream of words, but also from rotating constantly to follow the excitable girl as she wove about the group.

At the house, Arroun stood carefully but casually in the middle of the main room as the girls changed in the back room, resisting the strong urge to poke about. This wasn't the time to let his fingers wander. He watched as Amirriah went about her tasks in the garden, but offered no help. He was hardly a green thumb.

The scars on the back of the elf's delicate neck made his eyes narrow when he noticed. No wonder she was skittish about firemages. He kept his distance from the fire as she cooked, despite the quiet call of the flame. When the simple stew was ready, he sat with the others, thanking his host. He wasn't hungry yet after his heavy morning meal, but to refuse would be rude. He did leave the carrots and peas aside, but ate the meat and broth happily, explaining his picky eating simply, "Vegetables taste good, but they don't agree with my stomach. They give the broth a good flavor, though."

Sensing Honoka's movement next to him, he turned to look, then followed her worried gaze curiously. The sight of the thick claws on Lorraine's fingers made him pause with the spoon in his mouth, ears and tail perfectly still for several seconds. When he moved again, he slowly pulled the utensil from his lips, then very deliberately dipped another spoonful of soup. When he finished, he pointedly didn't point, but nodded toward Lorraine's hands. "I see what you meant about your claws. They do stand out without longer sleeves. Do they... get in the way?"

He wondered about those claws. They definitely weren't normal for a human. Occasionally a wildling tribe produced a throwback, with more animalistic mein than normal, but he'd never heard of claws THAT size. Lorraine didn't smell like a wildling, either, even if there were a tribe that looked as human as she did. Or would a lizard smell different from a human? He'd never encountered very many lizards before journeying south to Summerset. His home was too far into the cold north, and he had ventured this far south only after the incident with the town guard in Hellmontsburg. Even here, he'd only ever been close to caged iguanas at the docks. The tiny lizards that skittered under loose shingles on the roofs of the city left barely a trace of scent s they disappeared, faster than thought.

Guild Keep:

The Guild Keep exits through a small private door within the keep. It is dark. He grabs a piece of wood that hangs from the ceiling and creates a small torch. It is small, but provides ample light for such a small and narrow set of stone stairs.
This Hall is one of the oldest in Sommerset. Running this Hall effectively used to automatically assign it's Keep the next Leadership role. But, about one hundred years ago that began to change. The interests of the town had grown far and wide. Trade Keeps became as important and profitable as the Thieves Guild Halls. And, the Assassin Guild and Security Guild (a fancy name for a specialty assassin guild made mostly of muscle rather than brain and speed) had also risen in status because of their special abilities on long journeys or when dealing with difficult merchants far away.
The Keep knows his status among Keeps is not in the top 5. But, rather than sulk, he sees it as an opportunity. This was Allond's Hall before he positioned himself as their Master. When Allond appointed him he knew that his opportunity had arrived. He couldn't be as good as Allond, he had to be better. He learned quite a bit from Allond, the most important being, 'Not to surround himself with Yes men.' The mages, the Elf-Assassin, the money changers were all chosen by Allond for their integrity and honesty, not because they were agreeable.
Once he exits into the light of the day he squints until his eyes adjusted and moves out. He quickly skulks through the alleys and passage ways of the town until he reaches the city wall in the east. He waits about an hour, then a secret door in the wall opens and two men walk through. They both bow to the Keep. They say nothing. They lead a small group of wildings into the court area. There are seven guards and a captain. There are 11 wildings in two carts (7 rabbit, 4 cat). All are shackled at the ankles, wrists and neck. The collars around their neck and the ankle shackle on the left feet are linked together to prevent escape, the ankle shackles on the front and back wilding are attached to the floor of the cages.
"Here they are, sir." The captain says smiling.
"Yes. Yes. Very nice. Move them quickly to the shed. Get them out of there and keep them hidden."
"Is there a problem?"
"No. Yes. Maybe." the Keep says irritatedly. "There is a wilding moving about town."
"Why is that a problem?" the captain asks curious.
"It's Arroun."
The captain stares at the Guild Keep. He knows who Arroun is, but doesn't understand why it's an issue. They have the numbers and the skill to take him out and kill him if need be. He's more than willing to do it now if it's what the Keep wants.
"Arroun is possibly involved with Ventora who is involved with Allond." The captain still just stares.
"If he's doing a job for Allond then he will likely receive a reward. You know how he feels about slavers, especially ones that deal in wildings."
"Ahhh..." the captain says nodding. "Do you wish I should kill him?"
"Don't be a fool. If he's working for Allond, then killing him will only put Allond on alert. This little side business would be something he might start taking an interest in."
"I thought you said he knew abou..."
"I say a lot of things. Get them in the shed. In a few days they'll be gone and we can put them on a ship. Arroun will not be a problem."
"Right."

The guards quickly cover the caged wagons and move their cargo to the safety of the shed leaving the Keep to his thoughts. "I better have someone watch Arroun. He's just nosy enough to snoop in my affairs. Can't have him accidentally find my things."

************************************

Across from Amirriah's house, two young men in their late teens stand leaning against a wall eating apples and bread watching the house. They're Allond's men and they make little attempt to hide their presence. They're not intimidating or threatening, thei job is merely to keep watch on the group until they're out of the city and report to Allond. The same is true at Ventora's place.
Aside from keeping watch, their presence also serves as a reminder to any thieves or street thugs who might see an opportunity, that messing with this group would be costly.

Ventora got up several hours after leaving the group, he sighed as he looked out and saw that it was evening, the sun hanging lazily in the sky. He got dressed, putting on clothes that would both help him sneak, and protect him a bit if he got in a fight, he picked up the short sword he had bought earlier in the day, it was very plain, but very sharp, slightly curved and made of a fine steel. He strapped it to his back and draped a cloak over his shoulders, concealing both his outfit and the sword. He grabbed the other supplies he had bought and strapped them to his belt, just a small bag of food, And then he set out.

He left the inn, walking towards Allond's mansion, making sure he wasn't being followed, but also knowing he was most likely being watched, he had seen the men in front of the inn. Knew Allond was at least slightly guarding him, and likely the others. He walked up and the guards let him in the gate to Allond's mansion, and then again through the door. They led him to his study, where he sit. As Ventora walked in the guards stayed at the door. "Hello Allond, I'm here to tell you we'll be leaving within a few hours."

After being led back out of the mansion, he walked towards Amirriah's house, assuming that's where the rest would have ended up. He walked up to the door and knocked, and then he stood, waiting on someone to answer the door.

Amirriah hadn't mean to flinch at the sight of Lorraine's claws but she couldn't suppress it.This girl is making less and less sense... she thought as she served lunch. She gave the girl and apologetic look. Amirriah could just see the discomfort on Lorraine's face. Amirriah smiled, happy to everyone was was enjoying lunch. She also completely understood Arron's reasoning behind his picky eating.

When everyone was through she went about preparing for their journey. She packed some food and medical supplies she always carried with her on long trips. Amirriah also took the time to find something more suited to Lorraine's taste in clothing, to try and make her feel more comfortable and to hide her claws from unwanted eyes. She Found an old pale blue dress of her's with long sleeves. It had a few patched here and there, but Amirriah was sure Lorraine wouldn't mind. At some point in her scurrying about her house Amirriah just happen to glance out the window and see the two men watching the house. It send a small shiver down her spine, but she figured they were only keeping tabs on them for Allond, seeing as they were working with one of his thieves.  Janna came home in the late afternoon, followed shortly by Kollon, who was now in an outfit much like Amirriah's. He still had his scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. Strapped on his back was a bow and a quiver packed with arrows and at his hip was a hand-and-a-half sword. Janna wasn't too happy to hear about the adventure they were going on, but she knew better that to try and stop Amirriah from going.

Amirriah didn't really notice the day slip into evening. She was in the middle of strapping the thigh holsters of her daggers when a knock came to her door. She cracked the door open a bit to see who it was before letting Ventora inside.

"My claws...get in the way?" she giggled easily lifting some random papers and small coins and things with just the tips, "Nonsense! This is the only life were I've not had claws!" The rest of the day was mostly just running around helping Amirriah and company get ready.

The dress she got was also nice! It was large enough to slip over her regular clothes without putting to much weight on her beltless pants. And blue is a pretty color!

When Ventura arrived she couldn't hide her excitement, "VENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTURA!!!" She charged him and got him in a tackle hug, "WE'RE ALL SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!!" she climbed to his shoulders and pointed to Arroun, "We got a new buddy! He's furry and doesn't like toast!"

"Guilty upon all counts. Down with the toast-eaters," Arroun called from a chair in the main room, his voice distracted. After finishing their meal, he had settled into the seat and retrieved the damaged puzzle from his bag. A few hours had passed as he tugged, tweaked and adjusted, pushing the brass and steel rings back into shape. For the iron rings, and for the fine adjustments for the steel, he would wait until he was alone. He was loathe to use his powers in front of these strangers, more so in front of Amirriah, whose scars made his ears twitch back every time he noticed them.

Looking up from the puzzle, he grinned, his tail rippling at the sight of the small girl perched on the shoulders of the slender young man. He remembered him from earlier, the black-haired youth that smelled of singed flesh. The scent set his teeth on edge, but his expression showed none of his misgiving. "You're going to break the man's neck, lizard girl. That's the second person I've witnessed you trying to murder today, the first being myself. You of all people should appreciate the frailties of the physical form, having had more than one."

Setting the puzzle aside, Arroun rose, tail carefully curled in a question mark behind himself. Steeping forward, he offered his hand to the black-haired youth. "Arroun, sir. I met you earlier from beneath a pile of suicidal young girls? Fortunately, nothing is broken, and Amirriah was kind enough to invite me to lunch for my troubles. Since then, I have learned entirely more than I thought possible about potato berries. If only I knew what they actually were."

Honoka sat watching the others, listening to the bi-polar rattling of the lizard girl. A few times she thought about just leaving and getting out of town. She didn't want to be in Sommerset in the first place. This was an accident. An accident she is wishing more-and-more never happened.
"VENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTURA!!! WE'RE ALL SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!!" the girl screams running across the floor breaking Honoka from her thoughts.
It was all so chaotic. Honoka rose from her seat. She planned on making some excuse for leaving the room and then disappear. "But where will I go?" she wondered. She liked Amirriah. She felt safe around her. Amirriah seemed to care about everyone.
"I'm being foolish and selfish." she thought sitting back down. "I need to calm down." she thought, as the small wisps of cool, foggy air developed around her ankles. "Not now!" she told herself. "Not now!"
Honoka sat thinking of things she liked: small animals, the old woman she met, the other girls she befriended, cool windy days and Amirriah. It worked. She successfully blotted the bad thoughts out and only thought good things, the fog drifted back down, unneeded for now.

"I...I'm...I'm Honoka." Honoka finally spoke, introducing to Ventura, forcing a small smile

Ventora had barely walked into the house before Lorraine jumped on him, he caught her and let her lcimb on his shoulders, it was easier than making her stop. "Hello to you too." He shook Arroun's hand. The ruby at his neck burning a bit more than normal when he looked at him, but he ignored it. "Ventora, nice to meet you." Looking back at Lorraine now, "I trust you haven't been annoying everyone too much?" He picked her up and set her down on the ground, he didn't miss the fog slowly appearing around the other girls feet before she introduced herself. "It's nice to formally meet you as well Honoka."

As he walked a bit more inside and Amirriah shut the door he looked at the group. "We'll be going soon, as soon as it's actually dark out." He looked at Lorraine. "Don't say anything until we're out of the city, or I'm going to tape your mouth shut." He said with a smile, it was only half a joke, he didn't tell them they had been followed all day by more than Allond's men. There was no need to alarm them all, yet.

He stood infront of them all. "If anyone is going to back out, now would be the time." He knew Lorraine most likely wouldn't, and by extension Amirriah and the other guy with her, but the scared air mage and the wildling.. He didn't really invite one of them, and the other he could tell didn't want to go at all..

Amirriah watched everyone with a small silent grin as she went back to finishing her preparations to leave. She double checked to make sure everything was all set to go.

The fog at Honoka's caught her attention. She stopped what she was doing to give the girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and a small smile.

"If anyone is going to back out, now would be the time." Ventora said.

Amirriah looked down at Honoka, knowing the statement was intended for her. She gave the girl's shoulder another genital squeeze.