Progress is made.

You and your group enter into the dining hall together. The two Lizardfolk have very different reactions to your group showing up. The adult pushes her food way from her and waits as your group funnels in. While the child hunkers over her food like a feral cat. As if to prevent you all from stealing her food. She takes several large bites to scarf down as much as she can. You find it interesting that both reactions seem to suggest they expect you to take the food away from them.

"By all means. Eat your fill. We aren't going to take it away from you" you tell them as you sit down in front of them. The child looks at the adult as if to determine how to proceed. The adult watches you and the girls sit down for a moment, and then almost begrudgingly pulls her food back to begin eating again. The child, satisfied with what she watched, quickly begins shoveling food into her mouth. You can't help but smirk at the antics of the child, though it does seem to confirm there is something about food they are cautious about.

"I guess we can get right into it. My name is John, this is Yvette, Jane, Annabel, Nadine, Rene, and Dawn" you tell them pointing at each woman in the order they are seated as well as Dawn who fazes in behind you. She places her hands on your shoulders and casually begins lightly massaging your neck and shoulders.

"You are safe and welcome here for as long as you wish, and we will do our best to protect you while you are here. This entire facility is at your disposal. So welcome to the Sanctuary" you tell the two Lizardfolk. The child seems happy with your statement, but the adult still seems skeptical. Neither of them offer their names.

"Erm...do the two of you have names" you ask. The two of them look at each other for a brief second. The child begins playing with her food, while the adult looks very uncomfortable about the question.

"We do not mean to cause any offense or unease. If you don't wish to give us your names then that is entirely ok. Is there something we could refer to you by" Dawn asks.

"The child is Grimlok, and you can call me Priestess" the adult Lizardwoman states seemingly a little bit more at ease.

"It is nice to meet you Priestess and Grimlok" you state and the girls nod their head in agreement. The child smiles widely and Priestess bows her head slightly.

"Not to pry, but do you have names" Jane asks.

"Yes, but for our people names are reserved for...private...occasions. Giving somebody your name is...intimate. Only your family and those you are...er...familiar with, are allowed to know and use your name, and that only happens in more private situations" Priestess replies. Jane nods her head slowly as she thinks about the new information.

"That is very interesting. Our culture does not put such importance on our names, and we give them out freely. Though I can see the appeal of how you do it" you reply.

"What is to be our penance" Priestess suddenly asks.

"Penance" you ask confused by the question.

"Our punishment for putting you and your people at risk, and for the care and protection you offer us" Priestess clarifies. Grimlok continues playing with her food. She looks sad, but also as if she accepts some sort of punishment is obviously coming. Like a child who got caught stealing a cookie.

"I...we..." you stammer trying to wrap your head around what she asked.

"Nothing. There is no penance necessary. All we are offering is your own freedom. We would love for you to stay and help us build a future together, but if you wish you can leave at any time. We can provide resources to take with you for a better chance of survival as well" Annabel chimes in.

But..." Priestess tries to figure out her wording.

"It seems apparent that your culture is significantly different from our own. We would love to learn more of your culture, and we would also love to teach you our own. So please, until we can properly teach you our own culture, just know that we would never want to punish you for anything other than committing a crime. Such as stealing or harming another without reason. The only thing we request is that you contribute to the best of your abilities towards growing this place, so that we may help others in need" you say before she can figure out what to say. Priestess stares at you for a moment before answering.

"I mean no offense, but we shall see" Priestess states and takes a few more bites of food as a smirk forms on your face.

"Your approach to our different cultures shows you are very wise. It reminds me of an old story I heard once about a young student and a wise teacher. The student came to the wise teacher and told him disaster had struck. A mudslide destroyed all of their crops and the student was distraught, but the wise teacher just said, we'll see. True enough the crops were mostly destroyed, but the mudslide had uncovered an extremely valuable mineral deposit. The student came back again and exclaimed how lucky they all were, for the mineral could be traded for food and be used by the villagers to enrich themselves. The wise teacher again just said, we'll see. Later, after the villagers had mined the minerals, bandits came and stole all of the minerals. The student again came to the wise teacher distraught that it was even worse. Not only had they not replanted their food so they could mine the mineral, but now the minerals were all gone. The wise teacher again said, we'll see. As it turns out in return for the marriage of the village elders beautiful daughter, a hero defeated the bandits, and not only brought back the minerals, but also all of the other resources the bandits had stolen from others. So not only did the hero decide to stay in the village to wed the beautiful daughter, offering them his protection, but now the village was even more rich. Do you know what the wise teacher told the student" you say smiling and leaning towards Grimlok waiting for her to answer.

"We'll see" she says with a grin and giggles.

"Very good. Priestess is wise to wait and see how things turn out. I do not know how you were treated prior to arriving here, or what made you chose to escape, but I hope that we can prove to you both that we just want you to be happy and free" you reply.

"Like us" Rene chimes in.

"Right. Just like us. So, introductions and stuff are out of the way. Do you two have any questions for us" you ask.

"Do you have any other children here" Grimlok asks smiling. You smile back. It feels good that at least even with different cultures all kids want to do is be a kid.

"Not yet" Yvette replies and gives you a wink, but you can also see Grimlok seems a bit sad there aren't.

"We hope to have more running around these halls sometime soon. In the meantime though we do have some allies, and they have plenty of kids. How about sometime soon we go see if you can make some friends" you ask her.

"Ok...I'm going to keep eating now so I can grow strong like Di...like Priestess" Grimlok states innocently and immediately starts digging into her food again. You smirk at her statement and see Priestess smiling slightly as she takes another bite of her meal. Leaning back you try to think on how to phrase your next question without being insulting somehow.