Arc 2 - Heart of a Monster (Completed)

[PupSage]

Kuori shrugs, "I actually preffered Corsica to Ying. A little more down to earth while Ying's head was up in the clouds. Both of them fight well. Corsica called me her battle sister." She could have rambled on, but something was bugging her.
"So Petra, who is Arthur?" Kuori had just realized that the small framed Petra had reminded her of her sister from back in the tribal days. She hadn't seen her in what felt like ages. The fact that Petra and Halima both had somebody to go back to made her long for home.  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge look thoughtful for a few moments. "Well, there's two sides to this coin. The first, is that your current employer is packing up shop and if you wish to retain gainful employment under her, you probably want to catch her before she leaves without you." He would say this, making a casual open-handed gesture towards the general direction of the Red Lion's door.

"On the flip side... have you seen the Goliath woman that entered town today? Her name is Kuori. This journey that's started for us, had her parading around the town of Lupa, carrying the severed head of a monster easily four times her size. The monster, that is, not the head. A beast we were told, was dubbed 'The Razorclaw', and 'The Razorclaw' carried off a prize-winning bull to be a meal for it. I wasn't too keen on Kuori's display, to be honest, but... It was a pretty bad-a** sight, if you're into that sort of thing." The unarmored paladin would shrug somewhat indifferently.

"I can understand if it's not. It can be a blurred line, between heroism and barbarism. Regardless, I suspect I haven't seen the last of such acts on this journey."

Turning to Twyla, he would bow his head. "If you excuse me, I'm going to go don my armor now." And Revenge would turn and walk away, right to the stairs.  

[AlphabetFish]

Twyla bowed back to Revenge as he left. "See?" she said to Valac. "A monster four times her size! And she's huge! That thing was probably like eight times MY size!"

Without looking at what it was, Twyla grabbed a drink. "He didn't drink to anything, but I'll drink twice!" She took two quick swallows, tried to hide her grimace, then looked Valac in the eye. "Armor, Valac! The guy's putting on his armor! Would he do that if things weren't about to get heroic?

"Plus, Abby might even pay us extra! I'm in, in any case," she said finally. She put the drink down hastily, then looked to see how Valac would respond.  

[Kowsauni]

Abigail (Abby) Morgan

Abby raised her eyebrows at Kuori's comment. "Did she now? You must have really made an impression on her. She wouldn't call just anyone her battle sister. She always was the defiant one, focused on keeping our captors' attention on her rather than anyone else. She was damn near immune to pain after--well, you saw what they made her into. However, despite her bravado, they quickly learned they could control her though threatening her sister. In the end, they found ways to keep all of us in line..." Abby glanced down at Petra and stopped talking. It seemed she feared the current line of dialog might upset her.

At the question about Arthur, Petra would look up Kuori for a moment and then rest her head back on her knees. She seemed a bit reluctant to talk about the subject, but after a moment or so she would speak. "Back in the orphanage where I grew up, he was my only friend. I didn't get along with the other children and they would bully me but Arthur would protect me and look out for me." Petra would glance up at Kuori out of the corner of her eye to see if that was enough of an explanation, but Abby encouraged her on with a nod. With a sigh, Petra continued to speak, sounding a little bit embarrassed.

"I-I guess you could say we were more than just friends. We always wanted to be together. We had made plans for what we would do once we grew up and got out of that place. We thought we had everything figured out... and then I was adopted by the people who took me away and turned me into a monster. I... I don't know what he'll think when he sees what I am now, but I have to try and see him again. I have a promise to keep."

Petra

 

[Mongooseh]

Valac raised his eyebrow at Twyla he said raising a tankard to his mouth, "Bad guys can wear armour."

"I don't need much convincing, I was going to move on soon anyways apart from that little girl this town is too quiet. Might as well move on with people who are willing to share a drink at least."

Standing up Valac let out a mighty belch declaring himself done with his feast, probably to the relief of the inn keep watching his profit margin disappear, strectching and grabbing his sword resting against the table.

"I hate civil places anyway though I do enjoy their food. Let's go do some heroics."  

[Lavander42]

"You can count me in as well. I'd love to see more of the world."  

[PupSage]

Kuori nodded towards Petra, "You're not a monster. You're actually very beautiful." Kuori would start helping Abby pack up her shop.  

[Rain Yupa]

(On the off-chance it's needed...)

Overhearing Valac's acceptance to Twyla, Revenge would not slow his progress up the stairs, donning his armor and retrieving the rest of his belongings.

"I'm sorry, but something's come up," he would tell the innkeeper on his way out. "But I appreciate the room regardless. I'm not sure if the Goliath woman who set up the rooms will be back either, but I'm not certain. I look forward to doing business with you again the next time I pass through Gladesdale, though."

Assuming no other distractions, he would return to the shop, probably after everyone else got there. Heavy armor, man. Heavy armor.  

[AlphabetFish]

"Okay, then, it's settled! Me, I'll stay here tonight because I've got some singing to do, but tomorrow morning before dawn I'll be back at the shop! If I can sleep at all that is!" Twyla giggled, obviously very excited.

((Twyla will stay at the inn and perform tonight. I'm good to go to the next day when everyone else is.))  

[Kowsauni]

Petra

Peta looks up at Kuori like she has said something strange. You get the feeling someone hasn't said something like that to her for a long time. Still, it seems to have the desired affect of drawing her a bit out of her melancholy, for she smiles slightly. "You have interesting tastes, but I do hope Arthur feels the same way you do." Petra uncurls herself from the chair and takes off her cape. "Well, I guess I should help pack up."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Valac and Revenge make their way back to Abby's Boutique without incident. Abby lets them inside once she verifies who they are. Inside, they find the store has already been partly packed up by Kuori, Petra and Revenge. Abby greets Revenge with a big hug that is almost crushing. "Welcome back!" She then turns to Valac. "Oh, Valac. I'm glad you've come to help us. I knew you were a valuable employee, hehe. I don't know how much you were filled in, but we're going to visit a powerful wizard to the north to barter for an artifact that can reverse the affects of petrification. We leave first thing tomorrow morning." Abby then pauses for a moment. "...What exactly did Revenge and Twyla fill you in on, by the way?"

Abigail (Abby) Morgan

 

[Lavander42]

Lavander will go over to Petra and politely ask for her cloak back.  

[Mongooseh]

"By the sounds of things barely at all." Valac replied glancing at Revenge, "They told me that we were going to go do something that might fix the petrification. If we can just buy what we need I'll be going elsewhere, I was promised heroics thought we would be going to some ancient ruins or something. Asking for a receipt is hardly a task in which you need myself and I don't fancy filling in for a mule."

Valac had begun grimacing as he spoke looking around the room waiting for an explanation

"Now I know why he wouldn't drink to it."  

[Kowsauni]

Abigail (Abby) Morgan

Abby laughs a bit at the tiefling's grumpy response. "Well, I'll dare say this is going to be a bit more than a shopping trip. The roads north are dangerous these days and I don't think convincing a noble to part with a powerful artifact of his own creation will be particularly easy either. Nonetheless that is not the real reason you are here, nor even the reason why I hired you to work in my shop."

Abby would pause for a moment to look at Petra, who was returning the cape she had borrowed to Lavander. "I believe you met Petra earlier today and helped her out of a sticky situation. The truth is, she and I are alike. We were both kidnapped several years ago by a secret organization operating with the government's backing in the Kingdom of Aria. We, along with others, were experimented on and, well, we are not human any more to say the least. However, we escaped, and now this organization, with the backing of Aria's military, will do whatever it takes to get us back--and silence anyone who gets in their way. Possessing the very knowledge I am telling you now is enough to get you killed, but I'm afraid you already saw too much when you met Petra."

Abby would smile at Valac. "Is that enough to pique your interest? I really want your help in protecting us from these bad guys."  

[Rain Yupa]

Revenge's tail would flick at the fellow Tiefling's comments, but he had let Abby explain.

"The reason I didn't drink to it, is because Aria has some very well-trained soldiers, and I can't discount the possibility that they'll find and move against us before we have a chance to depart. I'd prefer not to risk dulling my senses on the off-chance it might save our lives."

Well, that was part of it. Part of it, was him wanting to return to Abby's side as quickly as possible, on the off-chance something happened while he was away from her. Like the last time. Anyone with well-trained passive perception would probably notice he missed a few buckles.

"I'd personally feel better leaving as soon as tieflingly possible. Too much attention has been drawn to us already. I figured hearing this from someone you know would be better than from someone you've just met. I just... didn't want to risk anything that might cause us a delay. I'm sure these petrified guardsmen have families that are concerned about them, and if there's anything we can do to free them of their plight, then we should. A moment wasted is a moment longer their loved ones will suffer."

He would flick his tail several times more, as he glanced towards the front door of the shop. "I really should inform the families that we are doing everything in our power to help them," he muttered aloud to no one in particular.  

[Mongooseh]

"Wouldn't be the first time some fanatic tried to kill me." Valac said to Abby sniffing and that familiar grin slowly beginning to encroach across his face, "I'm in, us monsters have to stick together right?"

Turning his attention to Revenge, Valac decided to antagonise him a bit rapping Revenges armour with his knuckles as he addressed him, "And one drink would've thrown you off balance? We must go drinking some time, see how quickly we'd need a barrow to take you home."

Valac found Revenges use of tieflingly a bit weird and didn't address Revenges emotional appeal as he didn't share the sentiment.