Coming into the Ossan Quarter, we make our way to the mansion. I'm not completely fine with Gixx's behavior, but it's apparent he's trying to make it up to me. Which is kind of strange, but flattering at the same time. Maybe I'm just thinking about this too much.

As we walk up, there's a small gathering in front of the mansion, carefully portioned off. Citizens are pushed off to a safe distance, but watching the party from the sidelines. Typical. Humans have a habit of showing off their wealth and connections and not their intelligence. I will never understand that. Money will come and go, but a magical or scientific discovery can change the course of history and make you known forever.

As we wait in line to get in, I get a better look at the guests. Mostly humans (no surprise there) dressed in their most gaudy and expensive clothes. The men in suits so tight they looked fit to burst, and the women with as much of their chest spilling out as they could get away with. Another thing I'll never understand is the need for them to put their mammary glands on display like that. In the crowd of humans, I also spot a norn, and an especially flashy looking sylvari. She shot me a glance that sent a chill up my spine, and then she fades into the crowd. Not a good sign.

"Names?"

I'm broken out of my thoughts by the voice of a gruff looking guard. We reached the front of the line quicker than I anticipated.

"Steward Gixx of the Priory and Commander Tippa of the Pact," Gixx replies.

The man looks over his list, and then nods to his companion guarding the makeshift gate.

"You may enter," he says with a bow, "Welcome to Minister Crayblin's party."

My plan to deal with the party is simple; hide near the bar and keep mingling to a minimum. While at the bar I was going to make sure to keep myself lubricated to deal with the nobles. Gixx, however, has other plans.

"Minister Crayblin!" Gixx motions at a tall human man with light brown skin and short black hair. He's heavyset and conversing with a woman, gesturing energetically. The man has a flash of recognition on his face when he sees Gixx, excuses himself, and strides over to us.

As the man approaches he stretches his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "Gixx! My old friend!" He gives Gixx an aggressive handshake, and then turns toward me. "And your lovely date this evening is none other than the Pact Commander!" He gives me a slight bow. "It's an honor to have you here."

I switch my demeanor to full charm mode. "The pleasure is all mine, Minister Crayblin," I say sweetly, giving a slight bow for extra measure. "Congratulations on your position. If you treat the people half as well as these guests you'll no doubt put your predecessor to shame." I'm just going to ignore that "date" part.

"Such kind words! It flatters me that you feel I deserve them. If it's not too rude to ask, I'd love if you could tell us some tales? Of your battles in Orr and facing an Elder Dragon? I'm sure my guests would love it," he says this with a gleam in his eye. Having the Pact Commander relating tales at his fancy party would certainly up his reputation wouldn't it?

"I can't imagine nobles being interested in the simple life of a soldier," I say in my humblest tone, "But you've been so gracious inviting me and all these fine people to this party, how I can deny such a simple request?" I'm amazed at how I can remain this saccharine without throwing up.

Crayblin claps his hands together. "Excellent! I can't wait to hear it at the dinner table! Now if you'll excuse me, I have other guests I must speak to." He bows again then takes his leave.

Gixx stares at me.

"I can play the game Gixx, I just don't like playing it," I say wearily.

Human nobles are so easy to manipulate. I know I'm considered "cute" by their standards, and I can use that to my advantage. As long as you kept the conversation on how wonderful they were and less on yourself, it worked out just fine. I just get tired of feeding egos that are already disgustingly overfed for no good reason. It's part of the reason I hate mega krewes and working with pushy krewe leaders.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go get a drink," and I walk toward the bar.

A servant ringing a bell interrupts me from my trek. I notice the other guests begin to head inside, carrying their drinks with them. By Blimm's Staff, I don't think I can have another forced conversation like that without a drink first. Gixx grabs my hand and leads me inside. I look wistfully at the bar as it exits my sights, and hope there's more alcohol within the mansion.

The "dinner" part of the party seems the same as the mingling that was outside, with the exception of a few chairs and small tables strategically placed in the interior. The design is all Elonian, which out of all the human styles I was the most partial to. Bold stripes and geometric designs decorated the main hall, in primary colors. Diamonds and squares, various animal prints and statues of the Six were everywhere. A bit overdone and tacky to be frank, but I know enough about the rich to know that this kind of style isn't about taste, but about showing off wealth. There are several tables with all manner of food on them, all very fancy and exotic looking. No drinks though. Apparently I'd have to wait for servers. Blast it! There are also other empty tables with chairs on them, which I assume are for the guests who just want to sit.

If I can't drink I can at least eat. Nothing like a good meal to take my mind off of things. As an added bonus if my mouth is full I can't talk to anyone! I head over to the nearest table. There's a small plate next to the delicious spread, and I begin to pile it high, sampling a few along the way. Buffet style for a fancy dinner party seems odd to me, but I'm not a noble, maybe it's "in" or something.

I've lost Gixx in my haste to fill my plate, but I'm not worried about it. He'll find me when he wants something. I occupy an empty table, set down my plate, and motion at a servant I see passing by.

"Do you have anything to drink? Like an ale maybe?" I ask.

"We do not serve ALE here, madam," he sneered lightly, "We do have a fine assortment of wines-"

"As long as its alcoholic, I don't care, just send me one."

" . . . Yes madam," he gives a small bow and moves along. Snooty!

"No ale?" A voice booms near me. I look up as a stately looking norn dumps another large plate of food near my own. "That is a shame." He takes the seat opposite of mine.

"Brift Slotower," he introduces himself with a brusque nod.

Introduce myself in kind. "Commander Tippa of the Pact," I give a nod in return. With formalities out-of-the-way, we both dig into our food. I don't feel so bad about my bad table manners; I can't look half as bad as a norn. I don't think they ever developed table manners as a culture, besides not fighting at the dinner table at any rate.

"How do you know Crayblin?" I ask between mouthfuls of food.

"Saved his life! He was out in the Wayfarer Foothills, on some sort of hunt," the norn replies. I could see the half eaten food swishing around in his mouth as he talks. "He thought it would be a good idea to pet a wild dolyak calf. Its mother didn't agree. Ended up having to kill it so he wouldn't be trampled."

I shake my head.

"What is it with nobles thinking that anything small and cute is there's to molest or covet?" I ponder aloud. At least Crayblin was kind enough to offer him a seat at this dinner. I wonder if he expected the norn to actually take him up on his offer.

"I did end up taking in those dolyak calves though. Can't turn down new additions to the herd!" he says happily. "Sounds like you've had some bad experiences with the rich?"

"You have no idea," I sigh. Maybe it was the good food, or the wonderful feeling of conversing with someone who couldn't buy everything and anything, but I decided to share the story.

"When I was a progeny-"

The servant returned with not only the drink I had requested, but one for my new acquaintance cuts me off as well. They might be snooty, but they give good service! As I'm about to get my drink, an older noble woman takes it out of the servant's hands. I narrow my eyes at her, and I'm about to let loose some unkind words when I see Gixx is next to her. He doesn't seem happy I ran off.

"Commander Tippa, this is Lady Anodine," Gixx sounds pleasant, but I can see the disapproval in his eyes. "She's been most eager to meet you."

I start to stand up to give a proper greeting, but the woman waves her hand at me.

"I think I'll sit and join you," she says as she takes one of the empty seats at the table. Gixx joins her, taking the last free seat.

"You're just in time! The Commander was just about to tell me a tale!" the norn booms. Flecks of food flew from his mouth as he spoke. I notice a look of slight disdain on Lady Anodine's face. I repress the urge to smile.

"Oh! What of?" asks Lady Anodine. She has this air of being constantly bored, but hearing a story seemed to bring her out of it.

"I'm not sure it's a story you'd be interested in hearing, just something from days as a progeny," I say weakly. I'm sure she'd love to hear the story of why I dislike nobles!

"Come now! If you can tell an old norn, you can tell a fine woman such as this!" This norn was not helping. "Something about bad experiences with nobles?" he asks, shoveling more food into his mouth.

What a thickheaded norn! Now I can't just make up a story with a happy ending, which they probably wouldn't buy anyway. I'm only a passable liar at best, as its a skill I never developed. Maybe if I had, I could've gotten away from Gixx when I first ran into him, and I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

Wait I can use this. I give Gixx a pleading look, hopefully he's caught on that my story isn't.

"Perhaps you could talk about something else?" Gixx suggests. Yes! A way out.

"Come now," Lady Anodine says with a lazy drawl. "Despite my disposition, I'm not a wilting flower. I'm much too old for that. I've heard my fair share of stories about bad acting nobility, so please, don't let my presence deter you."

Don't say I didn't warn you! I push my plate away from me and gather my thoughts.

Lion's Arch, the past.

A small, very adorable progeny is walking to the market. She's about half a head smaller than other progeny her age, but makes up for it with a mass fluffy purple-black hair. It's pulled into two large sections in the back, and two smaller sections in the front, looking like she had balls of dark cotton candy on her head. She's wearing a white tunic that goes down to her knees, with a pink capelet over it that matches her eyes.

As she makes her way through the city, it's not unlike watching a small doll come to life. She hums and skips, making idle talk to her golem protector, a repurposed Peacemaker model, which follows behind her. The residents pay her and her giant mechanical friend no mind, as they're a familiar sight.

"We're almost there Pee-Wee! I hope we can find some pears on sale!"

"PEARS-ARE-OUT-OF-SEASON," the golem responds in a monotone voice.

"I know, silly! That's why they'd be on sale. Got to get rid of the last of them before they spoil."

As she peruses the fruit, she hears a scream. Looking up, terrified, she sees a human rushing towards her. She's frozen in fear as the woman picks her up and screams again.

"Oh Augusta! Look! LOOK!" the woman cries, and thrusts the terrified progeny at arm's length toward the other human. She proceeds to spin her around, and then bring the asura close to her chest.

The poor little progeny snaps out of her fear, and screams.

"PROTECTION-PROTOCOLS-ACTIVATED."

The progeny wasn't going to wait for her protector. She squirms and manages to bite her assailant on the forearm. It's not a quick bite, but one where she holds on and her sharp, needle like teeth sink into the flesh until she can taste blood.

From there it's all a blur for her. She doesn't remember releasing her jaws, but she remembers being rescued from the scary bookah. She doesn't remember what the woman looked liked, but she remembers Pee-Wee placing her safely inside his chest cavity. She doesn't remember buying the pears she so desperately wanted, but when she woke up at home, there was a plate of them waiting for her beside her bed.

There's a long silence after I finished my tale. I'm not done yet though.

"Turns out the woman was some important noble, I don't even remember her name," I continue, picking idly at the food in front of me.

"Apparently I was the cutest thing she'd ever seen and she just couldn't help picking me up and treating me like a toy." There's an edge to my voice I can't hide. I'm not scared or sad; I'm full of righteous anger.

"The whole thing was confusing and traumatic. It took me a while to trust humans after that, especially nobility. I didn't find out until I was older, but her family did their damnedest to drive me and my father out of Lion's Arch. Luckily, we had plenty of witnesses to the event, and the Lionguard put down the incident as an act of self-defense."

When I finish talking, I look up from my plate. I didn't realize I zoned out and wasn't even looking at my audience. The norn is shaking his head, Gixx is looking worriedly at Lady Anodine, and Lady Anodine . . .

"YOU," she sputters in anger while slamming both fists onto the table, my plate of food falls off the table and clatters loudly on the floor.

Oh no. My ears whip back, an instinctual flight or fight response. No no no no nooooo, that would be just too coincidental.

Lady Anodine rises from her seat in a burst of energy and thrusts a finger at me. "You RUINED my niece!" she screeches. Ha, so she's the aunt! Her being the person I bit would just be too much. Not that I can rest easy, Lady Anodine looks fit to explode. Other guests are now turning in our direction.

"You nasty little gremlin!" she's now looming over me, and quickly raises her hand back. Oh, SPARKS, this is now completely out of hand. A battle-hardened soldier fighting an old noble woman is not going to show well on the Priory. My best bet is simply block her attacks, and remain silent until she calms down. Anything I say could escalate the situation, short of groveling an apology (there's no way I'd do that), and even that wasn't guaranteed to work.

"She would've been a great musician!" her hand begins to move forward, as I reflexively raise my right arm to block and brace myself. Her strike never hits, as a large hand firmly grasps her wrist.

The Norn!

"Lady Anodine, such violence isn't becoming a woman of your stature," Gixx tries to placate her, while pushing in front of me. I get out of my chair and back away, while Gixx firmly places himself between the two of us. He's going to throw me to this she-wolf I can just feel it. If he thinks he can make me apologize, he's dead wrong.

"This was many, MANY years ago, and the Commander was only a child, as was your niece I'm sure," Gixx has both of his hands in front of him, gently trying to calm down the raging woman. "As head of the Priory I'm used to seeing these kinds of cross-race misunderstandings happen. It's best to see it as a learning experience and move on. Lingering on it makes neither party come out looking well, especially in a public setting."

At the word "public," Lady Anodine remembers where she is. Her entire demeanor changes and she relaxes. The Norn notices this, and finally releases her arm. She smooths down her dress and fixes her hair and strides out the room, avoiding eye contact with the other guests. There's some murmuring, but it fades as the guests realize that the show is over.

Gixx sighs, and returns to his seat, followed by the norn, and then myself. That went better than expected!

"Thank you, both of you," I smile at the norn and Gixx. "I really didn't want to trade blows with her."

"I love a good fight, but that certainly wouldn't have been one," the Norn remarks. I think I underestimated him.

"I assume you have more common sense than that," Gixx snarks. He slumps in his chair wearily. Looks like I cost Gixx a patron.

"If I didn't, she'd have been on the floor before you even got out of your seat," I retort. "I was certain you were going to make me apologize." Where were the servants? I could use a drink now more than ever.

Gixx blinks at me and cocks his head to the side. "Why would I do that?" he seems genuinely puzzled.

"You know, to make the Priory look good? That's why we're here right?" Having me grovel at the feet of a wealthy patron with a personal vendetta would probably bring in a lot of money. I wave my hand at a servant, desperately trying to get their attention.

"If your story is accurate, you did nothing wrong," he says quietly. "I wouldn't force you to apologize for something you did as a progeny, even for our benefit." He opens his mouth as if he will continue, but instead stays silent.

I think I may have underestimated Gixx as well.

Author's Note: Tippa's progeny story is actually inspired by the pets I've had. They're remarkably chill to just be picked up by a giant and taken places against their will. I wondered how that would feel from their perspective if they didn't want it/weren't used to it. Also some small reveals to Tippa's backstory and general character development.