Roleplay

"Woah, really?!" Bubblegum straightened up her neck and her feathers floofed out. "Me too! Or, it was. Do you..." she leaned forward. "Do you know the secrets of the city? Why so many dragons are scared to go in?"

@cryoluxa

@akrimau

Arianna arched an eye ridge at Bubblegum. She supposed some dragons might be afraid to enter, but many dragons found homes in the Hewn City. Sure there were dangers, but it wasn't so dangerous to the locals. Of course, she supposed that that was true for just about anywhere in the world.

"It's dark," she decided to answer, "and dangerous creatures walk around there, just like in other parts of Sornieth. But if you know the area and what to look out for, it's not that bad. I don't think many dragons are afraid of going there. At least I haven't heard of anything like that yet."

To be fair, she was extremely new to travel. She'd lived with her clan in the safety of their little, hidden-away patch of sunlight within the Hewn City for a long time, and this was her first venture out into Sornieth.

---

@KittyDoctor

Meanwhile, Munaa had recently come into the medical clinic. He'd come to make another payment for his sister's stay, and to visit her. The local dancer had just finished on the former bit of that, and now he was being appraised of Vekja's situation as he walked alongside one of the nurses.

"Still no change," she answered. It was always the same answer. "But we're doing all that we can."

Munaa nodded solemnly to the nurse as she opened the door to his unconscious sister's room for him. He wondered if the doctor would question him about his amnesia today. It was never an official checkup -- just an inquiry. There was never any change in his own answer regarding that, either.

His memory worked fine, except for events that occurred before his arrival to Eightleaf Town. There were a few traces of memories from before then, but hardly anything substantial. His sister, however, had been in a coma all this time...and if not for her breathing, she could have easily been mistaken for a corpse. Most certainly, the brother of the siblings had had the less-unfortunate ailment.

Bubblegum looks dissapointed. "Ah, so you do not know then... shame, shame..." she shook her head. "Mm, I'm not supposed to tell anyone who doesn't already know... oh well." She sighs. "... I know you don't trust me, or believe in my abilities but I know I could be helpful in keeping you safe on your journey. But that's fine, if you don't need me, that's fine. You can find some other dragon, and I can find some other job. Let me know if you change your mind..." She turns away, looking around the room again for someone else who might help her.

(@cryoluxa Ah oops! I thought I had answered this already! It must not have posted successfully due to some internet connections shenanigains.)

@akrimau

((Don't worry about it. Also, guess people will insert their characters as they will. We'll continue again now. Wanted to give them a chance before we went onward.))

For a moment, Arianna wondered what the girl was talking about, but stopped herself from asking as Bubblegum walked away. It's probably something nonsensical. She reminded herself, shaking her head to clear it. The other Coatl did have a point, though. Now that she'd finished her meal, she should start looking for her hired help. Though she hoped that Bubblegum would find work, she hoped more that she would find some way to make herself sane. Maybe a doctor or something.

So, Arianna thanked Phyl for the meal and paid him. Then, she began meandering around the common room.

The Snapper was continuing in his story by the fire...

"And there was the treasure!" he was just saying, gesturing grandly, "But who knew when the beast would return? So, I quietly hurried over to pick up what I could. But then, I saw something move amid the golden coins... It was...a Serthis! A gold-scaled Serthis, hidden among the treasure!"

Bubblegum found herself drawn in by the wild tale that the snapper was weaving. Woah, treasure! She wished she had some treasure. That would help to fill her belly. She wondered how much treasure was there. Probably a lot, if he was risking to tangle with whatever the 'beast' was in order to get it. Was this snapper rich? Or maybe he was defeated? Either way, he seemed like an adventurer, but maybe he was retired now. She settled in to listen to him, while scanning the faces of the other dragons listening in, looking for any signs that one of them may be an adventurer as well. Her keen eye for detail reveils clues to this that other dragons would miss.
@cryoluxa

@akrimau

The most fascinated-looking of the Snapper's listeners were obviously just travelers or tourists passing through or looking for the sort of small-town environment that Eightleaf provided -- that much was clear. But there were certainly other dragons listening in who had adventuring experience. Most were fairly dull-colored, some hard rather obvious scars, and all of them were at least well-toned. Some even had weapons or traveling supplies nearby, and they all had some wear on them. Clearly, these dragons were comfortable in the wild, given how weathered they all seemed, and yet not a one looked discontent. Some looked mildly amused as they listened to the story. A few were ignoring it entirely, preferring to sit quietly or chat with their fellows at one of the tables.

The Snapper kept up his tale. "I knew right then that I was in danger. It was in that moment that I realized why the other Serthis had been so viscous, and guarded his den so carefully. For this golden Serthis was clearly his daughter, and an extremely young one at that. But!" He paused for emphasis. "I couldn't escape. The little thing had already begun to climb me, and I couldn't get her off! She was quicker than I'd first realized, and she kept getting into my gear, and onto my back. I couldn't reach her, but I had to. Who knew what sort of rage her father would fly into if he saw us as we were? And, to my horror, I heard something slithering down the tunnel!"

Bubblegum walked over to one of the dragons that both had traveling supplies and was listening in on the story, since they seemed like they would both be friendly and planning to go adventureing again soon. She fidgeted nervously with the ribbon around her neck as she thought of how she should introduce herself. It went so poorly last time so she clearly did something wrong and would have to try not to do whatever it was again. Problem is; she's not sure what it was. Oh well. No harm in trying; if it goes poorly she can always try again with someone else. She poked the dragon gently on the shoulder to get their attention. "Hello, my name is Bubblegum, and I'm looking for an adventureing party maybe. Do you have any ideas of who I should ask about that...?" She tilted her head questioningly.
@cryoluxa
((Maybe we should ping the group to see if someone else wants to jump in with an adventurer? I'm not sure though since no one else seems to be active here atm ;w;. So if you have a dragon you can use that would be great too!))

@akrimau

((If they wanted a ping, they'd be on the pinglist, and I'll accept their decisions regarding both that and what dragons they sign up. but even then, I've already addressed people. It's now their turn to choose what they want to do. And don't worry, though. I have dragons in place, here. ;) I won't let this get hung up for an unreasonable amount of time. And if people want stuff for their dragons to do, I keep saying that they can start rp threads or PM's with each other. It's just major events I facilitate. So far, people have been willing to include their dragons as they come up. That's part of why I recommend different roles for different kinds of rpers. The goal is to make sure everyone has the chance to do what they like, and not what they don't. :) ))

"Adventuring party, eh?" asked the dragon. This one was a male Pearlcatcher, who was seated with a couple Faes and a female Wildclaw, all of whom were listening to the Snapper's tale. He turned in his seat to look the girl over and gave her a smile. "Sure. The important things are how tough the job is, and how much you're willing to pay for it. For example, if you want someone to rescue your brother from a group of dangerous dragons who have a fortress or something, you'd better be willing to pay a lot. But if you just have a delivery to be made, that'd be much cheaper."

"It was him!" the Snapper continued. "So, I hid behind one of the boulders in the cave. There was nothing else I could do before the little one's father slithered into the room."

Oh oops she must have been confusing just there. At least this dragon seemed friendly and helpful! She straighted up her head. "Oh, thank you good sir, but I am afraid you misunderstand! I am looking to join an adventureing party. I may not look like much, but I have a unique set of skills..." She was a little nervous to elaborate on her powers, since that seemed to be part of what went wrong last time, so she decided to leave it vauge for now.

((Okay, great! I just wanted to make sure we weren't leaving anyone out in case they forgot or something. :3 ))
@cryoluxa

@akrimau

The Pearlcatcher couldn't help but laugh at Bubblegum's correction. "Join? Hahaha! Look, Ribbons, I don't mean to crush your dreams or anything, but you really don't look like much."

"Here we go," one of the Faes sighed, rolling her eyes.

"If you want to be an adventurer, you need the right gear, and not just because it could save your life. It draws in customers," he replied, patting his traveling supplies for emphasis and giving Bubblegum a wink and a grin. "If you want people to treat you like a professional, you have to look like a professional! First lesson in adventuring!"

"Second lesson: don't be a blowhard," he male Fae added, looking accusingly at the Pearlcatcher. He looked to be the oldest one in the group.

"Right; that too," the Pearlcatcher was quick to agree. "Nice one, gramps!"

"Call me that again and I'll show you just what I'm capable of," the little dragon threatened. Though his voice was monotone, his frills were flaring.

"Right, now, let's not cause a scene, here. I like this place," the Pearlcatcher half-pleaded, looking just a little more pathetic than he had previously, giving his fellow male a half-apologetic, half-wistful look.

The Fea began grumbling something under his breath, but left the Pearlcatcher alone after that.

"And that...is where I leave you today!" the Snapper concluded. There were various groans, but he quickly assured them that he was happy to divulge more of his story later. The crowd began to disperse.

"Heh. Guess Magellan ran out of ideas for now," the Pearlcatcher noted.

"What? What do you mean?" the Wildclaw asked.

"He makes those up. I doubt he's actually been on any of those adventures," the Pearlcatcher explained before sipping at his water.

"Really?!" exclaimed the Wildclaw.

Amused, the Pearlcatcher leaned over to Bubblegum and whispered, "She may be strong and fast, but she'll believe anything." Then, he spoke to the Wildclaw again. "Nah, I was just joking. He's legitimate, that one."

The Wildclaw's face lit up. "I knew it!"

The Pearlcatcher chuckled. "See? I told you."