22: Eighteen is best

[Ebiris]

[15:42] <@Ebiris> Leaving Shadowshore behind, the party head up the road and across various bridges towards Sunset district on the other side of Salerno, finally crossing over onto the island where the Lotus Dragons hide their secret lair, the Taxidermist's Guildhall seen ahead at the corner, surrounded on its sides by empty dwellings slowly sinking into neglect, particularly compared to the more lively houses and shopfronts on the opposite sides of the road going North and West. The streets are reasonably quiet, a few people coming and going on their way through the city, others stopping to exchange gossip or patronise the shops hereabout...
[15:44] <@Rudy> One of the empty buildings would make a discreet place to start working, and Rudy picks one of those adjacent to the hall to useu as a base. From there he can dispatch elementals to chart the caverns beneath...
[15:44] * @Lucie keeps an eye on passing bystanders as they walk, just in case it seems like anyone's taking undue interest in them. This is the enemy's neighborhood, after all.
[15:45] <@Ebiris> OOC: architecture check for Rudy, sense motive check for Lucie
[15:45] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+11 crowd-watchin' action
[15:45] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+11 crowd-watchin' action and gets 24." [1d20=13]
[15:46] <@Rudy> roll 1d20+7
[15:46] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+7 and gets 21." [1d20=14]
[15:49] <@Ebiris> As he approaches one of the boarded up doors set just into the alley between this particular building and the Taxidermist's, Rudy notices that the boards aren't actually nailed into the door frame or the wall - it seems to be simply a facade for appearances only, and the door likely should open with just a bit more resistance than normal. For her part Lucie's suspicious scrutiny notices quite a few people looking their way, most of them focused on Myra. However nobody actually seems keen to linger and look at them for particularly long on account of said monstrosity's presence.
[15:50] <@Lucie> Can't blame people for staring at Myra. As long as no one's actively scrutinizing them, though, it's not a big deal.
[15:51] <@Rudy> Rudy takes a quick look at a few other buildings to see if their decor is intended to be deceptive along similar lines.
[15:52] <@Ebiris> It does look that way now that Rudy's taking the time to examine them. For that matter, the boards along the windows seem to be held with disguised brackets that would let them be moved out of the way quite easily.
[15:55] <@Rudy> "The whole place is dangerous," notes Rudy, uneasily moving to push one of the doors open. "It's all set up to look abandoned and disused, but it's more like a shooting gallery."
[15:57] <@Ebiris> It takes a bit of a shove, the plank facade jamming momentarily on the frame, but the door gives way readily enough with effort. Inside Rudy can see a disused dwelling, no ornamentation or furnishing present - just dusty floorboards and a cold fireplace, the doors missing for the two other smaller rooms off the main one...
[15:58] <@Lucie> "Won't be finding anyone IN these buildings, will we? You make it sound like they're all manned and ready for intruders."
[16:01] <@Rudy> "Nah, don't think so. At least not yet," replies Rudy. "Lots of hiding places, though, lots of places to shoot people down on the street from. You wouldn't want to be running around in the alleyways during a scrap... ah, well. Let's check out the floorboards, in case there's a trapdoor here or something."
[16:02] <@Ebiris> OOC: can roll perception or architecture for this
[16:03] <@Rudy> roll 1d20+7 me
[16:03] * +Hatbot --> "Rudy rolls 1d20+7 me and gets 27." [1d20=20]
[16:03] <@Lucie> "Hrm. Right." Lucie tromps around the abandoned house, looking for floorboards that might be made to lift up or anything like that.
[16:03] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+10 I can do perception
[16:03] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+10 I can do perception and gets 26." [1d20=16]
[16:05] <@Ebiris> The floorboards all seem quite solidly nailed down onto the framework of the building, no signs of any trapdoor or hidden compartment there. But just as Rudy's scooting along the side with his head bent low to examine everything, he almost takes a knee from Lucie as she tromps right up to him and they both notice it at the same time as they turn to avoid the collision! The wall here has a section of loose brick that could be moved aside with a bit of effort, down low to the ground!
[16:06] * @Lucie kneels down, pushes and pulls at the brickwork to try and move it aside.
[16:08] <@Ebiris> More than a dozen bricks are pulled aside, revealing a small gap that leads directly into another building that looks much like this one, albeit with far less light spilling in through the gaps in the windows...
[16:09] <@Lucie> "Huh. We sure we want to go exploring here today? Never know what we might find, and these goons already want you all dead. Gonna just send in one of your creatures, or what?"
[16:13] <@Rudy> "They're all connected, too..." notes Rudy, frowning. "And yeah, I am. We're gonna cover the underground first, right?" He glances at the windows, and heads to one that seems like it might point to a mostly empty street.
[16:14] <@Lucie> "May as well. That's where they nang out, right? Better know all what's down there if we're going to take them on." Lucie heads to the adjacent rooms to at least know what else is in this house with them.
[16:14] <@Lucie> OOC: nang = hang, blah
[16:15] <@Ebiris> The only windows in this building lead onto the main road, but from the scant light in your neighbour it seems its windows are onto the alley between it and the taxidermist's shop. Lucie can see one small closet like room, signs that it may once have had shelves but they're now stripped out, and a larger room about four times bigger than the closet, similarly bare.
[16:15] <@Rudy> While Lucie checks out the other rooms, Rudy summons an elemental, prompting Myra to vanish with a faint pop! He orders it to dive beneath the taxidermists hall, where it is to locate the tunnel beneath it and explore in an eastward direction.
[16:17] * Aaeru is now known as Henrietta
[16:17] * @Lucie gives the adjoining rooms the same thorough search because, why not? May as well do something while Rudy's doing...whatever it is he does to command those creatures.
[16:17] <@Ebiris> The elemental seems to extrude itself from the wall nearest Rudy, a lowly crouching hominid figure of rough grey stone, matching the texture and colour of the structure around you except from a black oily film that seems to seep into its cracks. Without a word the elemental steps through the wall as if it weren't there and descends down through the unpaved ground in the alley...
[16:18] <@Ebiris> Meanwhile Lucie hunts around but finds the place as depressingly bare and empty as her initial impressions suspected.
[16:18] <@Ebiris> roll 1d100
[16:18] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d100 and gets 38." [1d100=38]
[16:23] <@Ebiris> A few minutes pass in contemplative silence, Lucie amusing herself by hunting for treasure in the meantime, before...
[16:24] <@Ebiris> Emerging seamlessly from the brick and mortar wall that matches its own consistency and colouration, the dappled grey elemental leans forward on its knuckles towards Rudy, moving with a baboon-like gait as it returns. Speaking with a sluggish voice of grinding rock, the creature makes its report, "Hckk... bad air turn that way," it points a single appendage to the North, "Bad air... hole in Earth," it clarifies, a rubbly scratching sound heard as it cranes its neck towards the window outside. "Worse water there. Two paths, dry one way. Shadows move in water."
[16:25] * @Lucie rejoins Rudy and the others in the main room, leans against a wall with arms crossed her her stomach. "So that means...what? You can translate that, right Rudy?""
[16:27] <@Rudy> "Which ways do the paths split?" asks Rudy, getting mileage out of his elemental before it inevitably vanishes.
[16:28] <@Henrietta> Shadowing Rudy, Henrietta is ready to add to their map from such questioning.
[16:28] <@Ebiris> "That way," It's stony hand remains pointing Northwards, and then it tilts just a bit to the right, "That way," it repeats, its gravelly timbre retaining the exact intonation and emphasis.
[16:29] <@Rudy> "Were there any other paths that returned to the surface?"
[16:31] <@Ebiris> "Path of Earth," it replies, its tone almost relishing or what could pass for it in its melancholy mannerisms. "Path of Air," its tone becomes almost bitter as it turns and points towards the Taxidermist's hall on the other side of the alley.
[16:34] <@Rudy> "I sort of understand, but it's not the most, ah, precise method of charting, as you can see," admits Rudy. "Got any suggestions on what next?"
[16:35] * @Glenn just shakes his head, silent as usual.
[16:35] <@Ebiris> If the elemental has any suggestions they're lost as it sags downwards, collapsing and crumbling to the floor, the rock seperating out again and again until its naught but dirt, growing ever more fine in scant seconds before there's no sign it was ever there to begin with.
[16:35] <@Henrietta> "Maybe it could tell the Lady that some of her tunnels are flooded?" Henrietta voices with a shrug. "It could be dangerous to travel there. She should know that, I think."
[16:36] <@Lucie> "Can you send him back and, I dunno--oh, I guess not. Well. If you can make another one of those goons, I'd ask him to find a way out that doesn't pass through solid rock. You know, a way in we could actually use."
[16:37] <@Henrietta> "We can use the trap, if it has been drained," Henrietta remarks, glancing at Lucie. "As someone belonging to a gang, would you expect a group of adventurers you have tried to kill by drowning to visit you there the day after?"
[16:38] <@Rudy> "That might actually be best," notes Rudy. "I'll have them just move through the earth and seek out other paths to the top instead of charting the tunnels themselves. We should try and find some in advance, so that when we make our move, we can collapse them or block them to prevent escape."
[16:39] <@Lucie> "We could go down the well, sure. I'd just worry they'll expect it once they find their pets dead. If we don't turn anything else up though, well, it's better than knocking on the front door."
[16:39] <@Henrietta> "Block them... mmm, with furniture, perhaps?" Henrietta muses. "It may be possible."
[16:39] * @Rudy summons a second elemental to do his bidding in that respect, ordering it to circle the region in an expanding spiral. "We'll probably have to relocate to get coverage of all the island," he notes.
[16:40] <@Ebiris> Another shambling mass of stone appears and departs without a word, sinking into the ground outside the building...
[16:40] <@Ebiris> roll 1d100
[16:40] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d100 and gets 30." [1d100=30]
[16:41] <@Ebiris> The minutes pass in contemplative silence as the return of Rudy's minion is awaited, tension growing as the deadline approaches... on the third minute, there remains no sign of the conjured avatar of Earth, the ground still and quiet at your feet...
[16:42] <@Rudy> Rudy frowns, and opts to call up a third elemental to see if it retains any knowledge of it's predecessors comings and goings.
[16:42] <@Lucie> "So. Think it took him too long to find a way out, or he ran into something?"
[16:43] <@Rudy> "These guys wouldn't go down easy, but running out of time's a real possibility," admits Rudy.
[16:43] <@Ebiris> Another elemental appears looking much as the last two. It leans forward on its haunches, motionless and awaiting Rudy's questions or orders...
[16:44] <@Rudy> "Do you know of the Paths of Air, that lead from the surface to below?" asks Rudy,
[16:46] <@Ebiris> The elemental is silent for a long moment before it turns back towards the wall, leaning into it and its hand sinking through both it and the ground below as the elemental almost goes onto its side. Without a word, it rights itself and points to the Taxidermist's guildhall in the exact same direction as the first one did.
[16:47] <@Rudy> "So that's all we'll get from around here," notes Rudy. "Let's try this from other positions on the island, shall we?"
[16:47] <@Lucie> "Right. Let's hope all the buildings are this empty."
[16:48] <@Rudy> "We can skip using a building," admits Rudy. "As long as it's secluded. It seems this only takes a moment." The elemental is summarily dismissed, and Rudy sets to leave.
[16:48] <@Henrietta> "The elemental can go ahead first," Henrietta suggests.
[16:49] <@Ebiris> Crumbling apart, the elemental vanishes just as the first one did, and the group depart back into the alley adjacent to the taxidermist's, the main road on one side while further twisting alleyways lead deeper inside towards the well they escaped from yesterday...
[16:51] <@Rudy> Better to take a direction that's away from either of those; Rudy heads to the corners furthest from the taxidermists office. In alleyways slightly inland from the bordering waters, he repeats the orders given to his last elemental.
[16:52] <@Ebiris> OOC: so you're going to the far Southwest of the island?
[16:53] <@Rudy> OOC: Yeah. I actually want to be significantly inland, but it's a bit hard to describe. Like 1/4 the radius of the island in from the corner?
[16:53] <@Henrietta> "Can a water elemental find their hidden dock if we are near enough, you think?" Henrietta asks Rudy, keeping near.
[16:56] <@Rudy> "It may," replies Rudy. "Are you thinking of tracing the entrance to the underground waterways from it?"
[16:56] <@Ebiris> It takes a good ten minute walk crossing the island towards the West, leaving the taxidermist well behind and approaching far more lively environs, the Merchant District seen just over the bridge to the South and abuzz with activity, much of it flowing North this way while more traffic heads South, the shops and houses all around seeming nicely middle class and well cared for, people all around. Moving farther inland, Rudy stakes out one of the wider alleyways, currently deserted but with numerous washing lines festooned overhead with colourful garments hanging. This elemental is composed of mostly red brick with darker mortar and dull quartz studding its body, waiting for Rudy's command...
[16:57] <@Henrietta> "All it had was a locked door," Henrietta responds, recalling their experiences in that room. "If we could get there, it wouldn't be that hard to break. And if we had to escape through there, we would know if it is feasible or not."
[16:57] * @Lucie continues scanning the crowds for anyone watching or tailing the group as they walk, just in case.
[16:58] <@Ebiris> OOC: sense motive Lucie
[16:58] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+11
[16:58] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+11 and gets 19." [1d20=8]
[16:58] <@Rudy> "Do you know of the Paths of Air, that lead from the surface to below?" asks Rudy, repeating the question that seemed to garner results the last time around.
[17:00] <@Ebiris> As Lucie lingers at the edge of the alley and scans the passers by who seem thoroughly uninterested, Rudy confers with his terran servitor. This one doesn't need to dip an arm into the earth, seeming contact with it by standing there enough for it to reply, "Earth unbroken here... no wounds of cold air seep through the fastness," it grinds out roughly.
[17:02] <@Rudy> "I think the issue is that escape would require a boat," notes Rudy, dismissing the elemental and starting to head north.
[17:02] * Joins: Wayland (~yuthirin@c-71-194-208-215.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
[17:03] <@Lucie> "How's that work, anyway?" Lucie wonders as they wander on. "The summoning, I mean."
[17:03] * Wayland is now known as Miranda_Altair
[17:04] <@Henrietta> "Trucy could wait with one, maybe?" Henrietta suggests. "We will need to go in at some point, I expect, and it would be nice to have a way out they would not expect us to take."
[17:04] <@Rudy> "Beats me! Ask Henri or Miranda," replies Rudy. "I can just kinda do it. It feels like ripping off my arm and ordering it to move independantly of myself."
[17:05] <@Lucie> "Huh. Never thought about it?" Lucia glances at the other girls. "What about you two?"
[17:05] <@Ebiris> This part of Sunset district remains busy as before, not much of a walk at all to the Northern side of the island where its partner can be seen across a series of bridges over the canal between them, the mainland itself on the other side of that island. Grey clouds are beginning to gather overhead, prompting many to start walking with more alacrity towards their destinations, making way for a horse-drawn carriage that clatters on by. There's a decent quantity ot alleys to choose from as before.
[17:06] <@Rudy> Rudy summons yet anothe elemental, and his orders remain the same as he repeats his airway-related entreaty.
[17:06] <@Ebiris> roll 1d100
[17:06] * +Hatbot --> "Ebiris rolls 1d100 and gets 94." [1d100=94]
[17:07] <@Rudy> "I try not to," he confesses. "That little girl who's in your gang, with the snake- her mind's not sound, is it? I think that's what happens when you stare too long and ask too many questions."
[17:07] <@Henrietta> "It is actually the result of investing your innate magical power into raw materials and shaping them into a golem. There is only so much you can put into it, so the magic animating the creation and giving it a semblance of life does not hold for long," Henrietta informs Lucie, falling back upon her studies of the arcane.
[17:09] <@Lucie> "What, her?" Lucie snorts. "Maya's been that way long as I've known her. She doesn't ask many questions, trust me. Where's that power come from, though? Isn't it normal to wonder about that?"
[17:10] <@Henrietta> "Magic? Why, it is in your blood, of course!"
[17:10] <@Ebiris> As Rudy retreats into the relative privacy of the alleyway, his slightly moss-festooned elemental emerging and silently pointing its finger towards a posh looking townhouse across the street, Lucie happens to notice that they've picked up a tail. He's quite good at seeming casual about it, giving a pretense of window-shopping, but there's only so many times you can walk past the same alleyway without giving yourself away.
[17:11] <@Rudy> "I can show you where it came from later, if you like. I still have the box," replies Rudy. "I think that's where it came from, since the only magic I could do before then was to have three extra screws leftover after assembling a cabinet."
[17:11] <@Henrietta> "That is a very strange magic," Henrietta admits, briefly puzzled.
[17:11] <@Lucie> "Is that all?" Lucie says to Henrietta, sounding disappointed. "And, uh, box?"
[17:12] <@Henrietta> "The box could have awakened Rudy's innate magic. Or the shock of whatever was in the box, perhaps?"
[17:12] <@Lucie> "Also, don't look too obviously here, but we've got someone following us."
[17:12] <@Henrietta> "We do?"
[17:12] <@Rudy> "It's a box that I opened. At least, I think I opened it," replies Rudy, rubbing his head. "I'm pretty sure Myra was in it, at least."
[17:13] <@Rudy> "Should we go and say hello?"
[17:13] * @Henrietta looks uneasy. "If you opened a box and Myra was in it, it sounds traumatic enough an experience. That probably what happened."
[17:14] <@Lucie> "Walked past this alley a couple times now. Doubt he's just lost. I dunno, we could confront him? Worst comes to worst, we club him and leave him in the alley here."
[17:16] <@Rudy> "Can we? This part of Sunset is a place where someone yelling would probably be noticed," replies Rudy. "Oh, Lucie, do you know who lives in that house over there?" asks Rudy, eyeing the nearby townhouse.
[17:16] <Miranda_Altair> "Do they look dangerous?" Miranda asks, looking around.
[17:16] <@Ebiris> OOC: knowledge local or nobility if you have it
[17:17] <@Ebiris> The man Lucie saw didn't look too threatening, fairly slight of build, almost swallowed in his charcoal grey cloak. No sign of visible weapons but that could conceal a lot.
[17:18] <@Lucie> "This isn't really my neighborhood, Rudy. Can always ask around. Anyway, folks don't yell if you hit them fast enough." Lucie shrugs. "You want to find out why he's tailing us, we can go ask. Might not expect it, could throw him off-guard. He didn't look like much of a threat, but you never what someone's carrying under a cloak like that."
[17:18] * @Henrietta mulls things over, before glancing at Lucie. "Let's go see him together? And if he runs, the others could cut him off!"
[17:19] <@Rudy> "It's five to one; not really worried about one fellow trying to take us on."
[17:19] <@Henrietta> "If it is merely two to one, he might not run away," Henrietta voices, waiting on Lucie's answer.
[17:20] <@Lucie> "Sure thing. We can head on over, anyone else keeps an eye out for any friends he might have or stands ready if he tries to run? Or I guess Rudy could keep doing what he's doing here, this guy's not going to be in a position to watch with us there."
[17:21] <@Henrietta> With the decision made, Henrietta makes her way towards this stranger with an unhealthy interest in them that Lucie managed to spot.
[17:22] * @Lucie marches across the street, right up to the man, and announces bold as day: "Hey, you--you got business with us, come out and say it!"
[17:23] <@Ebiris> Quite a few people are wearing cloaks, and dark seems to be in fashion this season - for that matter with a few drops of rain starting to patter down, a lot are starting to put their hoods up as they hurry to and fro. The man starts wide-eyed as Lucie confronts him, however, leaving Henrietta no doubt as to their target. "I- I just saw th-that thing!" he stammers, pointing towards the alley Miranda and the two boys remain within, "I was curious, that's all!" he backs away from the threatening looking women.
[17:24] <@Henrietta> "What thing is that?" Henrietta asks, glancing towards the alley.
[17:25] <@Lucie> "Uhhh-huh," Lucie drawls, watching his expression closely. "And you're in the habit of following every strange 'thing' you see out on the street? Must be nice to have so much leisure time."
[17:26] <@Ebiris> "The rock thing!" he blurts out. "Not something you see every day, right?" He takes a step back and seems to screw up his courage, "Besides, you could be... demonologists! Or spies! Anowian spies!"
[17:27] -> *Lucie* He's really really nervous you can tell right out, like he's afraid of you.
[17:29] <@Lucie> "Well aren't you the brave citizen, then, keeping the streets safe from dangerous foreign elements." Lucie rolls her eyes, steps forward with a hand on her mace. "You real sure nobody asked you to keep an eye on us?"
[17:30] * @Henrietta resists the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose, or the one begging her to step back and away, remaining standing there with a frozen smile on her lips.
[17:31] <@Ebiris> "Hey, you can't-" he steps back in time with Lucie, a hand going under his cloak. "The Watch'll have you if you start something!" he retorts, continuing to inch away.
[17:31] -> *Lucie* He doesn't sound like he really wants the Watch involved, and there was a definite flinch when you asked if someone had asked him to keep an eye on you.
[17:33] <@Lucie> "But we're not gonna start something, right, because if we do, I can tell you how it's gonna end. You want my friend in the alley siccing his monsters on you? No? Then get talking, 'cause I bet whoever's paying you isn't giving you enough to get all your broken limbs healed once we're done with you."
[17:33] <@Henrietta> "I-- I think you are mistaken," Henrietta forces herself to say, glancing at Lucie, and only her upbringing ensures that she is wearing a smile and not a grimace. "Who could possibly ask to keep an eye on us, and whyfor?"
[17:34] <@Ebiris> "Yeah, she's got it right!" he gives Henrietta a too-wide smile. "I was just curious, c'mon, you can't hold that against a guy? Listen, how about we just forget this and go our seperate ways, right?"
[17:34] <@Lucie> "Well, that's what we're about to find out, Henri," Lucia says, then casts her baleful glance  back on the man. "Right?"
[17:37] <@Lucie> "Curiosity isn't something most people feel when they see strange creatures lurking in dark alleyways. Not unless someone told 'em too. So you tell us who put you on our tail then scurry off to whatever hole you came from, and you get to keep your kneecaps. That's how it is."
[17:37] <@Ebiris> OOC: roll intimidate, Lucie?
[17:37] <@Lucie> roll 1d20+5 my only non-nerfed CHa skill, should take ranks in this
[17:37] * +Hatbot --> "Lucie rolls 1d20+5 my only non-nerfed CHa skill, should take ranks in this and gets 9." [1d20=4]
[17:38] * @Henrietta winces.
[17:38] <@Ebiris> "Screw this!" the guy blurts out, turning on his heel to bolt!
[17:38] <@Ebiris> OOC: we can roll init if you want to stop him
[17:38] <@Lucie> "Fuck." Lucie watches him go. "Well, at least he's gone."
[17:39] <@Henrietta> "Kneecaps?" Henrietta asks flatly.
[17:39] <@Ebiris> Indeed he rapidly runs off without a backwards glance, soon lost to sight in the drizzling rain!
[17:39] <@Lucie> "You're right, it'd be tough to aim at those under that cloak. Shoulda threatened his nose or something. Oh well." Lucie heads back to the alley to rejoin the others.
[17:40] <@Rudy> "It's raining! Let's go home," complains Rudy, taking sheltern underneath an awning. "Did you win?"
[17:41] <@Henrietta> "The curious man got to keep his kneecaps," Henrietta mutters, glancing at Lucie before quickly looking away.
[17:42] <Miranda_Altair> "Did you find out what he wanted?"
[17:42] <@Lucie> "Somebody set him after us, I'm sure. Didn't find out who. Blathered some rot about just being a worried citizen, but I could tell when he mentioned the Watch he didn't actually want them involved. Could be the Dragons know what we're up to, unless you guys have other enemies."
[17:44] <@Rudy> "Nah, they wouldn't have come to Salerno," replies Rudy.
[17:44] <@Henrietta> "You have enemies, then?"
[17:45] <@Rudy> "Angry brothers," mutters Rudy, departing the alleyway and sizing up the townhouse for himself.
[17:47] * Miranda_Altair looks at Rudy oddly for a moment, then bursts out laughing.
[17:47] <@Henrietta> "Why are they angry?" Henrietta asks quite curiously, following.
[17:47] <@Ebiris> It's an ivy-lined two-storey affair of white stucco and dark timbers, dark frosted windows seen on the upper floor while those on the ground floor are shuttered, a heavy wooden door at the top of four stairs. Looks comparatively nicer than the ones around, but not by a huge amount - clearly this is a nice neighbourhood.
[17:48] <@Ebiris> The elemental remains behind in the alley, a silent sentinel awaiting orders until it expires.
[17:48] <@Lucie> "Swanky," Lucie observes. "Think whoever owns it's tied in with the Dragons?"
[17:49] <@Rudy> "Do you have a sister, Henri?" asks Rudy, with a shrug. "Certainly are, but it's hard to say if they like it or not.
[17:49] <@Rudy> The elemental rapidly falls apart moments later!
[17:50] <@Henrietta> "A younger sister," Henrietta responds, nodding. "She isn't terribly angry."
[17:52] <@Rudy> "And if your younger sister happened to have a boyfriend, what would you think of that?"
[17:52] <@Henrietta> "She is certainly too young for that!" Henrietta states primly.
[17:53] <@Lucie> "So maybe some angry older brother sent that goon after Rudy, you think?" Lucie deadpans.
[17:54] <@Rudy> "Well, there you go. You know. For some guys, there's no point where their relatives stop being too young," mutters Rudy, looking around for any passerbys. "Yes, it's sure to be a complicated plot of revenge."
[17:54] <@Ebiris> There's no shortage, most hurrying hither and yon to get out of the rain that's steadily building in intensity.
[17:54] <@Lucie> "Or they just think their little sis deserves a suitor that doesn't hang out with monsters."
[17:55] <@Henrietta> "Ten should be too young for everyone," Henrietta insists, staring at Rudy suspiciously now.
[17:55] <@Rudy> "Try eighteen! Eighteen is old enough, isn't it? That's older than me!"
[17:56] <@Henrietta> "Eighteen is the best age," Henrietta agrees guardedly.