Making Friends Is Easy

It was ridiculous walking through out the dirt streets of Loner's Reach. You were surprised by the amount of people in the city itself and it appears it could easily match the population of Rathkin or the Syndicate. The amount of illicit activities you saw as your horses galloped through was pretty crazy though. Down alleyways you saw prostitution at it's best, you saw fist fights going on or groups of people holding back one guy and beating him to the brink of his life. Swearing and racial terms were thrown left and right as people cut off each other in the pathways. The sad part was all the younger children you noticed, who most likely didn't know any better as this was the way of life here.

"I don't like this place..." Lexie inches a little closer to you "Not one bit." her tone seems to be full of sadness.

"Neither do I..." you rest your head on the top of hers "We'll just get in, talk with Shade and get out. Quick and easy." you iterate to her.

It isn't long before you reach the bottom of these stone steps which lead up to this castle like structure. The three of you have to abandon your carriage for the time being as you make your way up the stairs. Toward the top, you can see a handful of thugs, dressed in their dark pants and cut off shirts at the top. Three are sitting around a table while two are standing off talking at the side. "Whelp, hope Shade is up this way!" you shrug at Lexie and Zoe "Stay close, okay?" giving a stern look at your ladies "And be careful."

As you reach the top of the stairs you come to a stop, the three of you standing in a line, Lexie by your side and Zoe by hers. The two thugs standing up both look your direction but don't say anything while one of the thugs at the table turns around in his seat, looks between you and the girls and then stands up. He must be the thug in charge of this group as he does look the biggest of the five with his bald head, thick tattoo covered arms and a mediocre sword hanging around his waist. The thug steps up to you, only a foot away glancing over your sabre tooth armor "Fucking nice." he says to you before stepping in front of Lexie, eyeing her body up and down and then doing the same to Zoe. "Okay." he says after he inspects all three of you and returns to you. "Coin or Snuff?"

"Huh?" you question him, not understanding what he's getting at.

"Coin." he pauses "Or Snuff?" his eyes are wide and his mouth is partially open.

"I-I don't..."

He lets out a laugh before turning his head back to the two guys sitting at the table "Looks like we got a fucking rookie here." he states causing all the other thugs behind him to start laughing from his words. He soon after turns back to you, grinning wide "For your whores." he nods his head at Lexie and Zoe "Hot damn are they are fresh. Look as tight as can be too. The two can fetch a lot of gold coins or a lot of ****, your pick."

"M-My whores...what? That's not why..." you begin but are interrupted as Lexie takes a step forward.

"We are not whores." she states.

The thug looks at Lexie's eyes, then back at yours and gives you a grin. He steps over in front of Lexie and smiles at her "It's nice your captor allows whores like yourself to speak up. Lucky for you, men here like a girl with attitude, see how long that lasts." he smirks.

"Call me a whore one more time." Lexie glares at him.

The thug turns his head to you as he begins to speak "Are you really going to allow this whore to...UGHH" Lexie's right hand connected with the middle of the thugs throat, punching him as hard as she could right on his Adam's apple. "Uhhh...." he backs away and bends over, gasping for air as his throat feels like it's constricting hard. The quick movement causes the two thugs at the table to stand up and pull out their weapons as well as the two thugs standing side by side to step forward as well.

With an exhale of air you mumble the words "Son of a bitch..." under your breath before throwing your arm in front of Lexie and pushing her back just slightly "Listen guys, I'm not here for gold, **** or to do anything with whores. I'm here to see Shade. He's not expecting me but he should be happy to see me. Can you please bring me to him?" you try to dissuade the situation all the while the thug Lexie punched is now down on his knees still gasping for air.

The four thugs begin to form a semi circle around you, inching closer and closer to your position at the top of the stairs. At that point, the head thug who was gasping for air is finally able to stand up and back away slowly, still wheezing and rubbing his throat but at least now back on his feet. "Shade?" his voice is rasp "We can bring you to Shade..." he begins, readying his sword with one hand while the other continues to massage his throat "But only you." he says "As for your two little whores, they stay here. Gotta teach that bitch a lesson."

You didn't want to start any trouble here in Loner's Reach. All you wanted to do was be as friendly as you could and find Shade. You were hoping you could get to him easily, talk with him, get some information and be on your way, but with what that guy just said...That did it. Not only did those words upset you greatly but Lexie was fuming at this point as well. She didn't have any weapons with her but Zoe, who was actually unusually quiet did have her Ulaks ready to go if needed, they weren't strapped to her wrists and would take a little bit to get ready but she did have them hanging down by her waist.

"Listen..." you push Lexie back even farther causing her to take two steps down the stairs behind you "These woman, you're going to show some respect." your hands move down to your waist, ready to wield your weapons if needed. "Now, here's what's gonna happen. You're going to apologize to them, tell them your words were unwarranted and vile and then you're going to take us to Shade."

A few laughs and groans escaped the five thug's mouths as they think you're bullshitting with them.

"Otherwise..." you pause, stalling briefly "I will kill all of you" your eyes move between all five thugs, looking at their non-armored bodies, their poorly crafted weapons and the glaze of **** induced stupor in their eyes. Your eyes do eventually go back to the thug who called Lexie not only a whore, but also a bitch and stare at him "All except you..." you snarl as your body is filled with anger "After I kill all your friends, then and only then, you're going to learn some fucking manners and apologize to her before taking us to Shade like we originally asked."

The five thugs appear shocked. They look around between themselves as their heads pivot side to side. Grins, smirks and smiles appear between all five thugs as they start to let out sarcastic laughs through their bodies. After about a minute, the so-called leader stops, looks at you and gives you an evil stare "When you die, I'm going to be the first one to ravage that fucking bitch of yours."