The red kind

"It is a crime for anyone but a Red Wizard to wear this color, lass" the words came from the mouth of a similarly clad arcanist, a lanky fellow with deep, sullen eyes, bald front and a penchant for abstract tattoos. "Punishable by ****"

"Oh?" Daphne replied warily. She meant to say more, but she eyed the speaker's party as they moved to encircle hers. There were at least a dozen warriors, half of them orcs, and a Thayan knight, all of them sporting a variety of swords and daggers. People around them already gave way for the wizards to pass, and were managing to become even more inconspicuous, just far enough to be safe but also watch. **** was, after all, Thay's favored sport.

"But I can be lenient. All you need to do is drop your robes, and all the other goods you are carrying. You will be left unharmed... not untouched, but unharmed" The dryad had a comeback on the tip of her tongue, but she never had a chance to say it. Instead the encroaching goons finally came too close and the lion man sprung to action, roaring a savage war cry as his spear impaled an unfortunate orc.

Following Siheow's lead Ariadne unsheathed her shimmering blade and lunged at another gathering of enemies. The sword's enchantment gave her uncanny speed and strength, and her opponents quickly learned to fear its fearsome bite.

Chathi stroke with her mace as the remaining minions advanced on her and Daphne, but she had little chance to stave them off for more than a couple of moments. Fortunately that was precisely all the time she needed, and a beautiful pattern of shifting colors spread from her fingertips, dazzling and mesmerizing many of her would be attackers. Many, but not all.

A fireball exploded beneath the priestess and the mage's feet, it would have been their doom if not for their fortunate reflexes. Obviously the red wizard had no qualms with sacrificing his own troops, as several of the mesmerized orcs had no chance to avoid the blast, and he was already readying another spell, hoping to improve his aim, but this time the dryad focused on countering him.

The fight wasn't going bad for them, even if they were still modestly outnumbered. Daphne only needed to keep the Red Wizard checked while her friends moped up his underlings, and they were wasting no time doing just that. When another of his spells fizzled in the air she said "I am of the Abjurer order, your magic is obviously inferior to mine brother." She couldn't resist the smirk "The name is Daphne"

"You claim to be a Red Wizard, elf?" his tattoos glowed, he still must have had many tricks up his sleeve. The surviving warriors, mostly humans, began to back away from their opponents. "Half. My father is Thayan." Not the whole truth, but he didn't need to know the finer details of her heritage. He scowled.

"Mongrel bitch. If you..." but his rant was cut short as she raised her voice "You are lucky I am letting you leave here alive, idiot. I am counting five dead, not including the three orcs you incinerated yourself." She then moved her eyes to the Thayan Knight "Can I trust you to bring word to whoever actually owns these men that I am willing to pay restitution for the unfortunate accident?"

The knight was a tall fellow, his ebony full plate vaguely resembled a spiked demon. If not for the enchantments it carried, it would be more decorative then functional. "Your lack of respect to Lorkuth won't be forgotten, Red Wizard Daphne" he spoke in a morose tone, and something about it made her wonder if the knight was even alive. It was hard to tell if he was berating her, or wondering why she didn't kill the young man. Probably the later.

"We will be staying in that Inn until morning, when we hope to continue our trip." And with nonchalant grace the mage simply continue her way inside the Inn, trying not to smirk at the rant this Lorkuth hammered on his 'protector'.