Introductions

The cool night air hit Seleste as she exited the inn with an amount of grace which was unusual for her party, Joa and the two men more or less bursting out into the street while Gwendolyn stumbled out behind them and Seleste brought up the rear.

“Come on!” Joa called out, and led the party down a narrow alleyway located on the other side of the street, directly opposite to the entrance to the inn, a few passers-by throwing them a glance as they disappeared into the darkness of the piece of cobbled street which was flanked on both sides by buildings that towered over it.

Having no idea of where they were going, Joa still led the members of the small group further in between the houses, coming out of it to find themselves standing in a small yard with another alleyway going out on the far end of the yard.

“Do you have any idea of where we’re going?” Seleste threw out her question as the five of them began to move once more, with Joa letting out an excited “No!” before steering them into the new alleyway.

Finally, after ten minutes of ducking in and out of alleyways, the group appeared out on a proper street again, with Seleste estimating that Joa had managed to keep them moving on a constant course away from the inn, putting them on a safe distance from whatever **** of watchmen that the city of Tharros possessed.

“Where to now?” The older of the two men asked Joa, who smiled at him in a way which Seleste had come to recognize quite well and then nodded at the small park behind them.

“I doubt that anyone will look for us there,” Joa concluded, and since no one disagreed with her the five of them were soon travelling down a wide gravel path surrounded by reasonably well-kept grass and thin trees equipped with a tangled mess of branches.

Soon they were walking on the grass as Joa led them into a woodlet behind a coppice which offered them with cover from the path and where their hasty journey finally came to an end.

The men were both alike in that they were quite handsome according to Seleste’s standards, bulging muscles and clean, strong facial features hemmed in by thick, lustrous hair, and that they were dressed in sandals and loincloths, with the younger man wearing a loose shirt made from simple, uncoloured cotton and his brother wearing a thicker tunic.

“Thank you for your help,” the older of the two men said, while his younger companion cast a quick glance at Seleste before looking away as soon as she noticed it.
Thinking that she would very much like him to look at her like that again, Seleste exchanged a glance with Gwendolyn as Joa said “Don’t mention it, although I’d very much like to know what the fight was about.”

“It’s pretty stupid, but I bumped into one of the men which we fought, and he took offense.” The younger man explained, looking rather sheepish as he offered this explanation, his cheeks flushing a little when Joa let out a hearty laugh in response to his description of what had happened.

“Well, it’s a good thing that you won then,” Joa told them, “though I think that we should stay off the streets for a little bit. A fight outside of the Kettle is bound to garner a fair bit of attention.”

“The Kettle?” Gwendolyn asked.

“Tharros’ pleasure district,” Joa explained, “it’s a pretty sordid place, although it can be quite enjoyable if you don’t get yourself into the bad kind of trouble.”

This made Seleste reflect upon the fact that while Joa’s current outfit, her usual combination of tight leather pants and a top cut to leave her spectacular midriff bare, would be consider pretty daring out on the island, it was downright conservative in comparison to some of the outfits that Seleste had been shocked to lay her gaze upon so far during her short time in Tharros.

“We’d best stay here then?” The older man asked, finally introduced himself by adding “Well met, I’m Amalric and this is my brother Aldric.”

“A pleasure,” Joa took on the duty of introducing her half of the party, “I’m Joa, and these are my friends Seleste and Gwendolyn.”