Ikki sat up in her bed and stretched. One by one, she felt her joints pop. She then jumped out of bed and stretched her legs, limbering herself up for the day. She didn't expect to fight anything that day, so she pulled on a loose pair of pants and a white shirt, which had its sleeves removed to accommodate her wings. Just in case, however, she grabbed one of her daggers and strapped it to her belt. Ikki then smoothed her feathers and opened her room's door.
She was met with a wall of blue. Ikki took a step back and looked up... and up... and up, to see that it was the dragonborn that had come to their aid the night before. Like Ikki, she had forgone her armor and weapons, and her clothing probably took about the same amount of cloth to make as Ikki's did. Her shirt was little more than a strip of white cloth that barely covered her... shall we say healthily proportioned chest, and her pants were little better, the brown fabric seemingly painted on and stopping a full two hands' length from her knees.
"Um, hello," Ikki said. "Ah, Yarjerit, was it?"
The dragonborn laughed. "Technically, that's right," she said. "Thing is, though, in dragonborn culture our clan name comes before our given name. Call me Nala."
"Right," Ikki said. "So, Nala, why are you at our door?"
"Well, Jappa wanted to know if either of you had woken up yet," Nala said. "But mainly, I wanted to see that sorcerer friend of yours shirtless."
Ikki's eyes narrowed. "And what if, instead of me answering the door fully clothed, Parcifal did, and I was the one shirtless?"
"I'd be fine with that," Nala said while shrugging.
"I'm underage, though," Ikki said. Nala recoiled slightly, her face a mix between surprise and disgust.
"I'm significantly less fine with that," Nala said. Ikki and Nala looked at each other for a tense few seconds, before starting to giggle and chuckle, respectively.
"Seriously, though," Nala said through her chuckles. "I am not okay with seeing a minor topless. Unless they specifically ask for it. How is that sorcerer- Parcifal, was it?- doing anyways?"
Ikki turned to look at the other bed in the room. The sheets were all twisted and thrown about, but she could just barely make out the white of Parcifal's hair at the top of the twisted mass. Faint snoring drifted to Ikki's ears from it.
"He's fine," Ikki said. "He just likes to sleep in."
Nala shrugged. "Fair enough. Come on; we should probably get down there before Larissa eats everything. Again."
Jappa was honestly impressed by- and a little worried with- the young tiefling girl. The amount she could put away while eating reminded her of Damu and Gura, back before they set out on their own. What worried her was that Larissa was eating just as much, if not more, than her sons would, and they were 400 pound tortles, while Larissa couldn't have been over 60. She almost entirely forsaked manners, shoveling as much food as possible into her mouth at once, and not caring if the food went all over her face, into her hair, or onto her shirt.
What kind of conditions had Larissa lived in that caused her to eat like that?
"Larissa, dear," Jappa said. "Don't eat so fast, please. You'll choke yourself."
The tiefling stopped eating, almost as if coming out of a trance. Embarrassed, she swallowed her mouthful of food and set her fork and knife down.
"Sorry," she mumbled, head bowed in apology.
"No, no, it's fine," Jappa said. "I'm just looking out for you."
Jappa reached over the table and gently put a clawed finger under Larissa's chin. Gently, she tilted the girl's head up to look at her face. Jappa tutted.
"Come, sit next to me," Jappa said, shifting over on her bench. Larissa thought about it for a second, before sliding off her bench and climbing up next to Jappa. The tortle grabbed her cloth napkin and began to gently wipe off the bits of food stuck to Larissa's face.
"How old are you, Larissa?" Jappa asked.
"Twelve," Larissa mumbled. Jappa blinked in shock. For both tortles and tieflings, that was before adulthood, although if Jappa remembered correctly tieflings aged at the same rate humans did. Either way, twelve was far too young for an adventurer.
"Is something wrong?" Larissa asked. Jappa then thought back to the night before. She didn't remember much of the fight- a side effect of her battle rage- but she did remember seeing the girl instantly kill one of the goblins with a spell.
"I suppose not," Jappa said. "Would you like to know how old I am?"
Larissa nodded. Jappa leaned down, as if to whisper into Larissa's ear.
"I'm forty-five," Jappa stage-whispered.
"Really?" Larissa asked. "You seem older."
"Tortles like myself age faster than humans or tieflings," Jappa said. "I suppose I'd be somewhere around seventy or seventy-five if I was a human."
Larissa giggled. "You remind me of my granny," she said. "She always looked out for me, and did the same things you did."
Jappa chuckled. "It's an honor," she said. She finished wiping Larissa face off and patted her shoulder. "You're all clean. Now go upstairs and change into some day clothes."
Larissa jumped off the bench and ran up the stairs to hers and Jappa's shared room. The little tiefling girl wore a set of wool pajamas with little cutesy dogs and cats sewn in at regular intervals.
"Impressive," a voice said. Jappa turned to see the wood elf, Naivara.
"How so?" Jappa asked.
"That's the most she's opened up since I found her," Naivara said. "I ran into her a few months ago in Rona- she tried to steal some of my money, but she clearly wasn't a pickpocket. I sort of took her under my wing. It took me three weeks to pry out of her that she's a warlock."
"A warlock?" Jappa said, surprised. "Any idea what her patron is?"
"She wouldn't tell me," Naivara said, shaking her head. "Personally, I don't think she knows, either."
Jappa tutted again. A warlock who didn't know where their power came from was dangerous- being as young Larissa only compounded that. Something else stuck out in Jappa's mind as odd, though.
"You said you found Larissa in Rona, correct?" Jappa asked.
"Yes," Naivara said.
"Why would a wood elf go down to Harth?" Jappa said. Naivara tensed.
"Research," she said quickly. Jappa could tell that Naivara was being truthful, but wasn't telling the entire truth, and Naivara knew Jappa knew that.
"Very well," Jappa said. "Everyone is entitled to their secrets."
Just then, Nala and Ikki arrived at the table the two were sitting at.
"Hello again, Ikki," Jappa said. "How is Parcifal?"
"He's asleep," Nala said. "According to Ikki he likes to sleep in."
"Right," Jappa said. "Ikki, I don't believe you've met Naivara, have you?"
Ikki held out a taloned hand, which Naivara shook. The four made small talk, and were eventually joined by Larissa, Holsten, Vyandra, and a sleepy-eyed Parcifal.
"So!" Vyandra said. "Since we're all probably going to be staying here and seeing each other for the next few days, what does everyone want to do?"
"First, we need to split up the money we got from those goblins," Parcifal said. "Holsten, you said you had it?"
Holsten nodded and pulled out a coin purse.
"There's thirty-six gold pieces, five silver pieces, and five copper pieces in here," he said. "Everyone gets four gold, but that leaves four gold left over, and all of the silver and copper. Seeing as Parcifal, Ikki, Jappa, and Vyandra were the ones who defended the inn, I think they should divide the leftovers among themselves. Does that sound good?"
Everyone nodded, and after some debate between the four, Ikki received the extra silver and copper.
"Now that that's been sorted, what's everyone doing?" Vyandra asked.
"I want to see if there's a library around," Ikki said.
"I'll go with you," Parcifal said.
"I'll come too," Vyandra said. "Anyone else?"
"I want to see if I can find a place that sells potions," Jappa said.
"I'll join you!" Larissa chirped.
"I guess the rest of us will stay here, then," Nala said.
"I'm just going to walk around the city some," Naivara said. "I might pop into a store, but likely not."
The eight nodded, made plans to return by dusk, and set out into the rainy day.
Soon after they set out, Ikki found a library, a short, squat building wedged between an inn and a trading post. The sign hanging above the door read Aldrinith's Treasure Trove. Ikki, Parcifal, and Vyandra ducked into the store. A halfling sitting at the back, a middle-aged female, perked up.
"Welcome to Aldrinith's Treasure Trove!" She said cheerily. "I'm Aldrinith- what can I do for ya?"
"I'm just looking around," Ikki said.
"Wonderful!" Aldrinith said. "Anything in mind, or just browsing?"
"Just browsing," Ikki said.
"Alright, I'll just wait here for ya when you're done!" Aldrinith said. Ikki nodded, then picked a random aisle and ambled through it, occasionally stopping to pull out a book that piqued her interest. Parcifal and Vyandra shrugged, and proceded to do the same. Parcifal walked a few aisles closer to Ikki and grabbed a random book. He opened it up and pretended to read, but in reality was keeping a closer eye on Ikki. The aarakocra had... trouble in regards to ownership, especially books.
Vyandra, meanwhile, had found the adult section of the library, and was gleefully reading the very, very bad descriptions of sex that made certain textbooks she had defaced back in school seem riveting by comparison. Yes, not only had Vyandra found the smut, she had found the bad smut.
Ikki, meanwhile, was growing frustrated. She just couldn't seem to find what she was looking for! Ikki then walked up to Aldrinith.
"Hello!" The hafling said. "What can I help ya with?"
"Y-yes," Ikki said. "Um, d-do you ha-ave any b-books about mag-gic?"
Aldrinith smiled warmly. "Depends on what you're lookin' for. I've got some basic spellbooks, histories of magic, and probably a tome or two lying around somewhere."
"A tome w-would be nice," Ikki said. Aldrinith spied the dagger on Ikki's belt.
"That's a fine dagger you've got there," she said. "What do ya use it for?"
"O-oh!" Ikki said. "Killing monsters, and stuff."
"You a rogue?" Aldrinith asked.
"Y-yes," Ikki stammered. Aldrinith's face broke out into a toothy grin.
"I might just be able to help ya out, then," she said. "I used to be an adventurer myself- a rogue too. I could teach ya some tricks about the path I think ya want to take, if you want."
"Really?!" Ikki said. "When can we start?!"
"Hold on," Parcifal said, leaning on the counter. "How much are you going to charge us?"
"Nothin'" Aldrinith said. "Free of charge, and I'll throw a tome in for good luck."
Parcifal looked at Aldrinith, trying to see if he could detect any trace of a lie. Content that he had found nothing, he walked back to a nearby aisle and went back to "reading."
"So!" Aldrinith said. "The key to becoming an Arcane Trickster is to already have some kind of magical talent. Ya wouldn't happen to already be able to cast any kind of spell, miss?"
"No," Ikki said.
"No problem!" Aldrinith said. She waved her hand and murmured a quick incantation. A glowing blue hand formed, dived down behind the counter, and pulled up an intricate metallic case, which appeared to be locked. The mage hand then dived back down and pulled an equally intricate key.
"Inside this case is a set of scrolls," Aldrinith explained. "These scrolls are the Articles of Bori, and when read for 32 hours over at least four days, they impart the ability to cast prestidigitation. That should be enough for ya to get a spark of arcane talent."
Ikki grabbed the box and key.
"Another thing before ya leave," Aldrinith said. "I'd recommend getting your hands on a rapier, and using that as your sole weapon. Arcane Tricksters need one hand free at all times to cast spells, and a rapier's the best one handed weapon ya can get your hands on as a rogue."
"Right," Ikki said. She then looked at the case, concerned. "Won't the rain get inside the box?"
"Nope," Aldrinith said. "Fished that out of the lake, so near as I can figure the case's waterproof."
Ikki nodded. "Thank you!"
"Anytime!" Aldrinith said. Ikki and Parcifal walked out, a reluctant Vyandra in tow. As soon as the three walked out of the shop, though, Vyandra burst into a fit of giggles.
"What did you do?" Parcifal asked. Vyandra took a couple of deep breaths and stopped giggling, though her mouth still twitched.
"I drew a bunch of dicks in the margins of the book I was reading," Vyandra said, before bursting into another fit of giggles, this time joined by Ikki. Parcifal just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
Jappa and Larissa ducked into the alchemist's shop they had found without too much difficulty, the old sign proclaiming it as Emac's Oils and Elixirs.
"Mornin'," a somewhat gruff voice called out. Sitting behind a counter was a heavyset human woman, with two streaks of gray hair emanating from her temples.
"My name's Ealhburg," she said. "Anythin' I can do for ya?"
"We are looking for some healing potions," Jappa said. "Would you happen to have any?"
Eahlburg ducked into a back storeroom for a moment before coming out with three bottles in her hands.
"I've got three," she said. "I'll sell them to ya for 15 gold a pop."
"We'll take two, then," Jappa said, handing over a mixture of her gold and Larissa's. Eahlburg grunted and passed two of the potions over.
"Thank you, miss!" Larissa said.
"No problem," Eahlburg said.
Naivara frowned. She wasn't too familiar with these woods, but she could tell something was off. Something definitely not native to the woods had come through this grove within the last few hours- two of them. Based on what Naivara assumed was the direction of the tracks, these two unknowns were headed...
"...right for Emac!" Naivara gasped. She sprinted off towards the town, hoping to make it before the creatures did.
Feedback is appreciated!
Characters (numbers in parentheses is the character's level. Numbers will be added when they do an action only available to that level or higher):
Parcifal- Human(?) Wild Magic Sorcerer (?)
Ikki- Aarakocra Rogue (?)
Jappa- Tortle Barbarian (?)
Vyandra Ascalon- Half-Elf Bard (?)
Naivara Amastacia- Wood Elf Ranger (?)
Holsten Ascalon- Human Cleric (Unknown Domain and God) (?)
Yarjerit Nala- Dragonborn Paladin of an Unknown God (2)
Larissa Hapthorne- Tiefling Warlock (Unknown Patron) (?)
