Off the boat and into town

Adalina strode onto the stone dock of Absalom's port, a backpack thrown over her shoulder that held her possessions. She was wearing her typical light leather armor that left far too much skin exposed than was acceptable in proper society. She didn't come from proper society, however, and didn't care much about the rules of their perceived propriety. She liked to expose the tautness of her abs, much of her shapely legs, and the well-curved muscles of her arms. Admittedly such light exposure would give people less pause than the dark tail that whipped side to side behind her, emerging from a hole in the back of her loincloth. Tieflings were rarely accepted, even such a metropolis as Absalom (and she was thankful that she passed as just a Tiefling instead of appearing more completely as the half-fiend she was). They had a reputation as villains, thieves, and monsters (which she was, but she was a civilized monster!).

She ignored the staring masses as she strode into the docks district proper, her right hand kept near the hilt of her shortsword strapped to her belt and her left hand ready to throw her backpack at someone to distract. She wasn't attacked, however, though she was pulled aside by a guard assigned to patrol and keep an eye on the docks.

"Oi, What have we here?" The guard approached Adalina, a portly man with simple guardsman's armor. He had a bulbous nose and a ruddy complexion that suggested many evenings spent at taverns.

Adalina tilted her head as she looked over him with a frown at first, but then offered a cheerful smile of pearly whites. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong? I didn't think I'd have to sign in to enter the city." She held out a hand toward him, offering a shake, though he didn't take it.

"Well...you don't hafta, but I'd still like to know what you're doin' here." He settled one meaty palm down against the hilt of his own weapon, a simple longsword that looks like it's seen better days. Adalina had to resist the temptation to roll her eyes, as her panties likely cost more than his longsword did.

"My name is Adalina, in from Westcrown. I'm looking to take the Test of the Starstone." She didn't feel the need to lie to him. It's not as if it was uncommon to take the test, nor was it something that was heavily restricted. In fact it might even get him off her back sooner.

The guard was slow to comprehend, blinking lazily as he processed the information with his limited mental capacity, or so Adalina guessed, before finally speaking up. "Ah...well...No issue there then. Didn't figure you for the sort, is all." Left unspoken what sort he expected she was. "Very well then. Carry on." He waved her along, and she suspected he understood that she was more well-equipped to handle harassment than your average fiendblood might be.