Fille rested a hand on Sera's arm as she went rummaging in her pack. She shook her head. "We're in the heart of Rogueport's political stronghold, Sera," she warned. "We do something stupid and that's it for us, even if I do have a friend here. We'll wait to see what's going on first. We haven't heard any more explosions, after all."

The mayor opened his mouth to protest when Audra spoke. "Let it go, old man," she muttered, ignoring the polite nod that Liam gave the two of them. The mayor sighed and shook his head. "Very well then," he muttered.

Thrusting her hand out before her to get a better look at her nails, Audra finally glanced back at Liam just as he was about to leave. "Word of advice, Liam," she said. "Threaten Rogueport all you want. You won't be the first to have burnt it down. You won't be the last, either. Just no that no one ever accomplishes it twice. Try it again, and you'll regret it. Even Stamaria knows better than to try it again."

Liam's expression broke into a cheerful smile. "Stamaria is a land of firsts, madam. We are capable of really anything." With that, he headed back down the stairs and to the room where his men waited. "Gear up, ladies and gentlemen." He called out. "We're moving out. Rogueport has proven to be singularly useless to our endeavor."


____

Sera looked at the door, then back to Fille. "It's a warehouse. it seemed .. . very warehousey. How do you know it's the heart of their political stronghold?" She questioned with confusion.

"Why else would they keep it hidden?" Fille asked back. "It's full of guards, they're entertaining some important guest who didn't hesitate to shoot people because he knew he could get away with it, and this place seems to be hidden from everyone else. What else could this place be?"

Fille turned and went back to the table, plopping down in her seat with a sigh. "We'll find out soon enough," she muttered, as if to reassure herself. "If they come back here and find us gone, they'll be hunting for us."

It was several minutes before either Audra or the mayor spoke, and it was the mayor who opened his mouth first. "He'll be a problem to what's going on around here," he said.

"No doubt about it," Audra agreed, going back to examining her nails. "We'll have an idea who he really is and what he's after by tonight, once I check the forums."

"And if he proves really troublesome?" the mayor asked, arching an eyebrow at the player.

"Well, the White Devil owes us a favor anyway," she said with a shrug, looking back at the mayor. "We call in that favor, and we can have the Wolfram here in a few hours or less."

The man grimaced at that, leaning back in his chair and pulling a handkerchief from his shirt to dab at his forehead. "The last thing we want is the Paragon coming here to start some civil war," he lamented. "I'd rather not see that player coming back here."

Audra grinned. "The White Devil hasn't tried to blow us up, though, so we've got that going for us." She pushed herself up from the wall and headed for the door. "For now, there's some girls downstairs that he was harassing earlier, so I'll go see what that was all about."

She left the room without waiting for a response from the mayor.

Down the stairs the group of soldiers marched, picking up their guns with practiced ease, giving vicious glares to the varied guardians of the warehouse. And then following their commander out. All the while Liam made a brisk pace, having assured himself that his men were fine. He was on a time-table, after all.


Moments later, A small column of horsemen, each leading a second riderless horse. Clad in camouflaged green with the distinctive insignia marking them as members of the Warlord's Cher Plek Legions, they rode straight up to the warehouse, allowing their fellows access to the spare horses before the entire group started off at a brisk pace for the edge of the city.

____

Sera took a breath, standing and going back to where Fille was, glancing around the room. "How well do you know your friend?" She asked, her ever cheerful mood seeming to bounce back. Nothing, not even the explosions, able to keep it completely subdued.





Edited by Ajax on July 17, 2015 at 6:58:10

"I caught her trying to run out the front door, Rua," Maia responded shortly, "I told you she would, now or later, didn't I?"

Against the wall, Terrel grunted and grimaced, dread filling her as this woman spoke. Grasping at the hand vainly, her emotional imperative managed to squeak out a few words in protest.

"You knew? Oh, you son of bi--" the hand choked the words out of her mouth again, and an angry teared formed in her eye instead. How long had they been working together? Had this been the point all along? It was one thing to run away but another thing to flat out betray someone. How could she have been so stupid as to trust him even a little bit?

Angrily, she tried kicking at her captor, but the armor she wore was thick and hard, and it was no use. Between the two of them, it seemed she was dead meat.

---

Khordus peered back at them, a wild sort of playfulness in his eyes as he responded, "A player, yes. You didn't answer my question though, hm?"

---

From the shadows, hollowed eyes watched the newcomers. Some were curious, others angry, and some only hungry, but all of them waited patiently for the word to reveal themselves. To these foreigners, the streets would look empty and desolate--much as they would expect them to--but in truth the walls were filled with creatures and fiends alike, itching to greet.

Behind one wall, two voices whispered with each other in eager anticipation.

"Now? Now? Now? Now? We will go now, yes?"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Few and weak, these men of late. Their arms are tired, their legs are sore. Kindle the fires, but I must know more."

"More? What is there more? They heard our bellies roll and stomachs roar, they've come to feed us--yes yes, come to feed us."

"Your belly hungers first, but for knowledge will I thirst. Send the word to round them up. Time and patience, then the cup."

The eager voice departed, and in moments the shadows began to move around the streets, not long after turning into the likes of men. But they were not men--they were rotten and worn, some with bones exposed, others missing eyes, and yet more wanting fingers and toes. They came out with weapons raised and guttural tones in the their throats, quickly surrounding but not attacking the company.

Then another figure appeared, this one without weapons and at the head of the street, aimed at the front of the group. He was hunched and waxen, skin sallow and failing with eyeballs nearly rotten, but the other creatures looked to him as he appeared. He walked slowly and deliberately, each foot seeming to plant some new idea into the ground. As he approached the foreigners he came to a halt, eyeing them all closely.

"What business have you, in these damned halls? You've left your comfort, safety, and walls. Speak your tongues or pay the price, for the hour is young and your skin looks nice. Who among you leads? Who among your reads? Have your books and toys and foolish thoughts not satisfied your needs?" He narrowed his eyes at them, though he was missing an eyelid and it looked decidedly lopsided in practice.

Impatient anger gripped him suddenly, as if he had waited more than a moment since finishing his last sentence. "Well, spit it out!" he demanded, looking for a leader of the group.

"What the hell? First you try to get me to turn on her, and then you pull this after I convinced you to stand down? Why?!" Rua demanded angrily, ignoring Maia's accusation. Relayia fluttered into the room, landing on Rua's left shoulder and tensing up the moment she saw the masked bounty hunter again, and sensing her own master's distress. "Is the ring really that damn important to you?"

It seemed clear to him now. That meeting wasn't meant for this player to get him on her side. All he was was the confirmation she needed to find Terrel. His grip on his sword tightened, the leather wrapping its hilt creaking with the action. How could I have been so stupid?! he thought, just as angry at himself as he was at Maia's stunt.

Fille sighed and leaned back with a rueful smile on her face. "I don't know, I guess," she admitted. "I thought I knew her pretty well, but that she's working with these guys kind of blindsided me. Still, I haven't felt any hostility from her since we got here. None directed at us, anyway, unlike that Liam guy."

Bekka nodded, "I have. Doubt my partner has. He's a bit on the dumb side." She said with a smirk. Duff rolled his eyes at that, shaking his head but not speaking a word. Long had they played at antagonizing each other, ever since the streets as children. She would lead, he would follow.

"I imagine our boy Bec here knows a decent amount about it though." She smiled crookedly, mismatched eyes glancing towards the shorter man.

____


Sera fidgeted for a moment, then sat down. "What's .. that like, having a friend?" She belatedly realized it was a damn stupid question, one most people would have trouble answering, and even more would think was just plain odd to even have to attempt an answer. But part of her was curious. Her last friend had been . . .what, ten years ago?

"Stupid question." She added with a smile. "Sorry, I'm a bit . .uh, out of it. social-wise."

Fille grinned a little. "I noticed."

The girl leaned her elbows on the table, propping her head up with her arms. "What it like, huh..." she murmured, not really looking at anything. That was a complicated question, she supposed. "Well--"

The sound of the door unlocking was almost loud in the room, startling Fille and causing her to reach for an arrow. The door swung open, revealing Audra grinning, a bottle of wine clutched in one hand. "Yo!" she greeted, lifting the bottle up.

"You didn't wait too long, did you?" she asked as she closed the door behind her.

Sera looked up at the sound, flinching a bit. "You seem in a good mood, suddenly." She remarked. "Not celebrating whatever caused the shockwave, are you?"

Audra shrugged in response, causing the wine in her bottle to slosh. "I'm always in a good mood," she remarked, reaching towards a cabinet to grab a trio of wineglasses.

"You already dealt with what caused that blast?" Fille asked. Audra shook her head as she took her seat across from her.

"Nah, Liam left and took his demolitions squad with him," the thief informed. She slid two of the wineglasses towards Fille and Sera after filling them, and went about filling her own. "He'll get his present later tonight."

Maia's wrist twinged uncomfortably at Rua's words. Perhaps it might surprise these two, but she held to a certain code of honor, and this man had a point. Her words and actions had been deceptive, and she was above such base desires. After a moment, she slightly released her grip on Terrel's neck, allowing the pinned woman a breath.

Spit covered her visor a moment later, coming straight from her captive's mouth, and Maia grimaced disdainfully. For her, Terrel still appeared as black shade, a writhing figure of smoke and figment that desperately tried to sneak out of her vision. It was only an illusion, though, and it would do her no help in this instance. Unfortunately, it did pose an issue for ending this conflict.

"I'm sorry for that," she said, true regret in her voice. "I don't trust you, and I don't expect you to trust me, but apparently I deceived you in that. I'll speak plainly now: your quest is important to you, not to me. I won't wait on your time-table for a convenient moment to return what was stolen. Take it from her and give it to me, or I'll take it from her corpse." In truth, those were her only two options. With Terrel's body as ethereal as it appeared to her, she would never be able to remove the thing herself.

The woman in her grasp kicked and growled, snarling at her, "Bullshit, I don't have what you think I do, woman. Look, Rua, does it look like I'm wearing a ring?"

She lifted up her hands and raised them toward the man, waving them in the air. While Maia couldn't distinguish whether or not Terrel's hands were truly bare, she suspected it might be true.

Maia groaned. She was this close and she was going to let this woman bicker her ear off? The armored woman chose a different approach.

Swinging her off-hand weapon around, she struck Terrel across her shadowed head as hard as she dared. In her grip, she felt the struggling stop, her captive falling into unconsciousness, finally letting the room descend into muffled silence again. Perhaps more gently than she felt she owed this woman, Maia lowered Terrel to the ground with ease and holstered the weapon.

"I don't want to fight you too, Rua," she said, turning to the swordsman. "But I will if I have to. Take it from her and give it to me, and I'm gone. If it's not on her hands, check her toes, ears, or even her belly. I'll bet you everything in my bank account it's on her somewhere. It's that, or I'm taking her back to the Stamarians, and neither of us want that."

You're damn right I don't trust you, Rua thought, his expression darkening as Maia struck Terrel down, causing his party member to collapse in a boneless heap to the floor.

He kept one eye on Maia as she lowered Terrel to the ground. As he rolled her over onto her back, he considered his options. Attacking was just about right out. Maia was more than equipped for a PvP fight, with her blaster weapon and her powered armor, while he was stuck with a sword and local clothing. Definitely needed to switch to his usual gear the moment he got out of this.

His hand roamed, delving into pockets and underneath layers of fabric, making him feel like a pervert in the process. Did Terrel really have the ring? He still didn't want to believe it of her, but the look of betrayal on Terrel's face at Maia's words gave the bounty hunter's tale some merit. His hands came across a chain underneath the neckline of Terrel's shirt, and his hopes fell.

As his hand swept along the line of the necklace, Rua made a surreptitious glance around the room, reconsidering his options. The window was open, and Maia had her weapon holstered, preventing her from doing the maximum amount of damage she could in such a tight space. He was still holding his own weapon, and while a knife would've been better in this room... there was a slight chance he could pull it off.

He'd have to apologize to Terrel. Split-second bad decisions were a lot more troublesome than he thought.

His hand closed around the ring on the end of the chain and with a yank, he pulled the thing off and made to stand up when he moved. Two clucks of his tongue that seemed loud in the room, followed by hurling the ring and the chain right out the window. Not a moment later and Relayia had snatched it out of the air and was out of sight, moving surprisingly quick for something so small.

He hoped to god that Maia was stupefied by his actions, had watched the arc of his swing, or something, because he was already moving, throwing his shoulder at her legs, hoping to wrap his arm around them and send her plummeting to the floor.

Maia had betrayed him once already. He wasn't going to give her the chance to do so again.

Maia lifted her weapon sharply, aiming it at the dragonet as she realized what Rua was trying. A moment later, though, his body came crashing into her legs, and she cried out as he struck.

Though the armor lent weight on her side, a blow of that force and altitude was enough to knock her feet from under her. Shoulder first, she managed to gain enough balance to fall forward onto her arm, rolling away from her attacker and reaching for her second weapon--identical to the first--on her other hip.

Raising it quickly, she aimed it Terrel instead of Rua, ready to use a hostage if she needed to. That was, of course, until she saw, for the first time, the woman she'd been chasing for all these months.

Oh God.

The weapon fell from her hand in an instant, leaving her completely exposed to her opponent, but it didn't matter anymore. Beneath the helmet, she felt her mouth go dry and her heart seize up. How?

She looked at Rua and raised her hands in surrender. Hopefully he would know the difference between a ploy and the real thing, here, because she had no intention of fighting either of them now. Provided he wouldn't just go for her again, she would work up the words in her mouth slowly.

"You... you said she's a Theta?"

As he expected, the powered armor Maia wore made his attack little more than a nuisance to her. Arm feeling like it was out of whack, Rua took the brief window of opportunity to raise his weapon--Christ, this woman was quick!

She was bringing up a matching pistol to attack the unconscious Terrel, and he fell back into a defensive posture between them, blade drawn horizontally as he knelt on one knee--he had the HP to tank at least one shot, he hoped, and then--what?

Maia's posture had changed. He couldn't see her face, but everything in her body language screamed at him that she was suddenly unsure of her situation, and then her hands went up in surrender. Her following question threw him off guard, though.

"Y-yeah," he confirmed, sounding wary and a bit confused. "You hadn't given me any reason to lie back there."

Maia cursed under her breath, took one step toward Terrel--thought better of it--and took another step back. What could she even do, now? She felt dizzy. She felt angry. She felt like she wanted to be sick. She felt anxious. There didn't seem to be a good option anymore.

"I..." she began, breaking off and turning away, not even sure if she could look and think at the same time. "I wasn't lying to you earlier either, when I said I caught her running out. But you still treated her like an ally--even a friend--after that. Are you going to, even if I leave?"

"... I'll see how she feels about it once she's awake," Rua said. "It's all up to her now, I think."

She still seemed pretty mad, but he was certain he could get her to listen to his side. He had her ring now, thanks to Relayia. "I don't get it. Why the heck are you suddenly freaking out?" he asked. This wasn't a ploy, was it?

"Because I haven't seen her in three years," Maia responded lamely, every part of her wanting to just slouch against the wall and sit forever. "And I've been chasing her for six months without realizing who I was after this whole time. She's... Bloody hell, what's even the point of this..." Maia raised her hand to her helmet and touched the side, the face-plate pulling itself back enough to expose mouth, nose, eyes, and forehead to Rua.

The resulting image was a startlingly similar, slightly younger version of the other woman lying on the floor. Naturally brown skin with eyes to match, Maia looked every bit the part of someone who might be related to Terrel. Those eyes were moist now, though, angry as it made her. It was even worse that he could see it.

"You have to stay with her, okay? I don't care if it's up to her, stay with her anyway. I hate to say it, but you helped her get this far, and now I have to leave it on you to get her the rest of the way. I... I can't. Do you get it?"

Ah, hell. This was the kind of drama he'd expect in one of his sister's animes or something. Maia's features--what he could see of them, at any rate--were uncannily like Terrel's. It was pretty clear what the bounty hunter was getting at.

"Got a brother and a sister back home too, though they're loads smarter than me. Guess there's probably a reason why I'm the one stuck, huh."

"I... yeah, alright," he said lamely, averting his gaze for a moment. "Given what happened earlier, we're hightailing it out of here anyway. You might want to get going too."

He couldn't offer Maia the ring as a peace offering--Relayia would be well out of here by now, and wouldn't return until they were clear--but a lack of hostilities sounded like it was in order. After a moment, though, he glanced back at Terrel, then at Maia. "Anything you want me to tell her when she's awake?" he asked.

"Don't tell her it was me," Maia responded firmly, "she can't ever know that. She... She doesn't have anyone, Rua. Her friends are all gone, now, and Andres and I don't live there anymore. All she's got is memories of family, now, and if she found out that I'd been chasing her all this time? Found out I'd thought of her as sub-human, traitorous, scum of the earth? I don't think she could handle it. I can barely handle it. Ask her about me sometime, and you'll understand."

She had to go now, Rua was right. They all had to get out of here. There was one last thing to be settled, though.

Tentatively, she brought it back up. "I'm not going to ask you for that ring--you were right, it really should just be destroyed. But you can't give it to her either, all right? Preferably don't even wear it yourself. Tell her you lost it, or something. I don't know. I can't tell you what to do with it. I won't, anyway.

"If you keep it, though, they'll come for you eventually. I can tell them it's gone, but they'll figure it out sooner or later. And if they don't kill you, the thing itself probably will. Just be smart about it, okay?"

"Sure. I'll see what I can do about the ring," Rua said with a nod. He twisted his sword back around awkwardly and sheathed it in his kneeling position, then turned and scooped up Terrel in his arms. She was lighter than he thought she'd be. "Best get a move on then."

He stood up with a grunt and moved past Maia, glancing at her as he did so. With Terrel out of commission, getting through the escape route was gonna take some creative guesswork. "Mind your way out," he called back to the bounty hunter. "God knows what's going back on outside."

Maia raised her hand back to her helmet and closed the face plate again, turning to Rua for one final word. "I'll be fine, thanks. Just keep her safe and... I don't know, call if you're ever in a bind. You've got my number."

Making her way to the door, she added one last thing, "The passage is underneath the fireplace, if she didn't tell you already. Third stone on the right opens the hatch. Just watch your head when it dips down and you'll be fine." And without further farewell, she opened the door and left.

"Any clue as to why a powerful Stamarian NPC did something he's never done before in the game? I thought he never left his zone." Sera swirled the glass with two fingers, eying it curiously. would it taste like the real thing?

Narhari narrowed his eyes. It seemed almost as if the walls bled these undead, so many had collected in such a short amount of time. He worried away at the charm in his pocket, one that would supposedly help ward off the undead, if they attempted to assault him. He doubted it would work against so many. He had a few companions that had traveled with him, and yet a few stragglers too, that had followed in with his small group. They would have to be his protection, for now. As cutthroat as it might seem, their lives were expendable, and his was not. As long as he remembered the rules of the game, he might yet leave the city intact.

"We do not have one that is chiefest amongst us, as we are each here for our own reasons. Mine, I shall profess loudly. I believe there is an Arcanum Relic buried somewhere within this city." Murmurs stirred in his group, some in agreement. Clearly, he was not the first to think this, nor would he be the last. But none who had come looking for such an object reported any sightings, at least not the ones that made it out. Others muttered their own reasons, many of which were because of the untold riches that were to lie within the city.

-------

Bec shook his head with a smile, hoping Duff was right, before turning to nod to Khordus. "I've heard of it, yes. But precious little, and most of that is probably speculation. Don't tell me you've found a road to that place?" he replied, his interests piqued. One had a lot of time for scholarly pursuits, when confined to one area, with nothing better to do.

One of the lesser undead inclined its head toward the speaker, inching its way closer and sniffing loudly before recoiling in disgust. It turned to their leader, its voice vexed in its throat.

"This one looks good for eating, but it smells bad! What is it?"

The leader waved a hand at the zombie, walking closer to the one bold enough to speak and sniffing him as well. Always they craved, hungered, thirsted, and longed for the flesh and blood of the living. No stench was too strong, no taste too putrid, no vessel too unclean to consider refraining. And yet this one smelled completely distasteful. How? The way it spoke suggested a cunning more suited to survival, true. Perhaps it had a secret? It searched for the Relic. Very bold.

"Ours is ours, lost is lost. Count the hours, count the cost. Death is stingy and death is cruel, and yet you come with words, not jewels. Should we trade for no reward? Tell us what you bring and what you heard. We will take your companions as an offering--an ante and a bet for time and talking.

"But your price is steeper. Your cards are weaker! Death guards our sacred and death sings our hatred. Follow this path, breather, and you will meet her. But that path has bars, and bars have keys. What do you exchange? Hopes and pleas? Play your hand and I'll hold out mine, else turn your back and leave us to dine."

Around him, the undead cackled at his words, some brandishing weapons and others licking their rotten lips.

---

"We make our own roads," Khordus said cheerily, following the cavern as it twisted down, down, down into the depths of the earth. "But we may be close, yes. Legends suggest a great city beneath the temple itself, and we hope to make our entrance there. As we get closer, though, there may be more enemies. That's where you come in. Follow?"

Well, today's turned out weird. At least he knew how to get out of here. Knowing he had to hurry, Rua shifted Terrel until he could sling her over his shoulder and carry her that way. It wasn't long before he found the room Maia mentioned, and the instructions she gave him worked the first time around.

The entrance it created led into a dark, rocky chamber that Rua was most thankful didn't look wet and damp. He hated wet, damp caves. The swordsman took a breath, put his other arm on Terrel's legs to keep her steady, and plunged into the tunnel. There was a few steps, the path started to dip, and--

"Gah! Motherfu--"

He cut his curse off with an annoyed hiss as he lowered his head from where it struck the ceiling. Stupid cave.

Finding his way through the cavern was easy enough once his eyes adjusted to the dark. There was a distant light behind him and ahead of him, so it wasn't like he was trapped blind in here.

Soon, he burst out into light and fronds, and damn near tripped on a dislodged building stone for his troubles. Looked like he wasn't terribly far from Rogueport--there were bits and piece of old temple scattered about, almost invisible with the amount of plant overgrowth here. You couldn't really see this area unless you were looking for it, either. Good place for people to camp at, just like Terrel said.

Speaking of Terrel, Rua went a ways and then laid her gently on the grass before using the game menu to "ping" Relayia. Now, it was just time to wait for either Relayia to show up or Terrel to awaken. He hoped his pet would get here first, though.

"NPCs can leave anywhere if they try hard enough, I guess," Audra said noncommittally. "As for what he was looking for... best guess is that he's got something he wants to hide from the Angels."

"The Angels?" Fille asked, taking a sip of her own wine. "What's he got to hide?"

"Beats me. We'll find out soon, though. I doubt he could hide anything from the Angels, and if he's worried about them, then it's too big for us not to look into."

Bekka and Duff shared a look. "Cities have people. Breaking into cities generally causes those people to not like you so much." She said carefully. Trying not to piss off the client.

Duff, meanwhile, was a bit more direct. "'E want us to guard ye from a whole city, boyo. Jy is gek. we don't have the manpower."


_____


Sera finally took a sip of her own wine, belatedly wondering if it was drugged. But too late now. Time to see if Fille's friend was trustworthy in the slightest. After locking them in a room, she rather doubted it. "Seems like you're fairly in charge of this city. How'd a player manage that?"

"I'm more interested in what a couple of non-local players are doing running around Rogueport's black market," Audra asked back instead, glancing between the two of them. She gestured with her glass to Sera. "Now, you, I don't really know."

She took a swig of her wineglass and turned her gaze back to Fille, who was sipping her own wine. "But I know you, Fille, and you should know better than to come around here. Certainly not with a face as pretty as yours."

Fille grimaced. "I know," she admitted, shaking her head. "I was after some information, and I found out Droge moved here."

Audra blinked. "Droge? Here in Rogueport?"

The thief laughed at Fille's nod. "He's here in Rogueport! And I didn't know!" she giggled, setting her glass down. "Oh, that man still knows how to surprise me!"

"I was surprised too, you'd think he'd stay out of here with how many toes get stepped on," Fille agreed, a weak smile on her face.

Audra's giggling subsided, but her smile remained. "And what about you?" she asked of Sera, looking back at her. "You're too pretty to be hanging around here too, so you must have a good reason for it."

Fille winced at that. I wouldn't say it's a good reason... she thought.

Sera smiled brightly. "I'm here to try and sing a song for the Mayor of Rogueport." She answered with a hint of merriment, her voice lilting softly.

The woman was dodging every question thrown at her. Fille knew her, and the woman was a player . . but humans were generally scummier than the NPCs, when it came right down to it. At the very least, when it came to levels of danger, this woman practically radiated it. She nodded back towards her guitar. "Bard class. The most useless class in the game, last I checked. As we don't get any bonuses to anything. Just a flavor class. But I'm trying to sign for the mayor of every town I come to. Sort of--" Her smile faltered for a moment, eyes drifting off with memories. "Personal goal." She finally ended.

Edited by Ajax on September 2, 2014 at 20:50:44

Audra gave Sera a considering look as she poured herself another glass of wine. There wasn't much laughter there. "Kind of an odd goal to have in Rogueport, but certainly possible once you're in the right circles, though--"

"She's a Theta."

Audra turned at Fille's blunt statement, and the redhead looked a bit apologetic at it, but she shrugged and continued. "She's a Theta, like me, Audra," she told her. "She doesn't have the time to get into the right circles."

The thief took a sip of her wine and turned back to Sera, leaning in her chair as she did so. "That true?" she asked.

Sera nodded, having a care not to sip any more of the wine than the polite first sip. "Damn." she said with a light-hearted laugh. "here I was hoping my legend had already grown. The Warlord NPC even mentioned something, like he knew who I was. Outlander bard---" She chuckled. "I'm singing for city leaders across the continent, then moving on. Unless I can feasibly get a way in with the Harbinger---well, this will be my last stop here before I sail for a new land. But yes, I'm a Theta." She said belatedly realizing she hadn't exactly answered the question in a simple yes-or-no format.

"Now is the time you're supposed to call me a crazy person." She added on helpfully a moment later.