and reach an inn

It had been a while since Daphne had subjected herself to such long travels, and she was the only one among her companions that seemed to grunge the day's ride in a fairly sunny and windy weather. She didn't like the idea of showing weakness so early in their association, so she could very well mask it with a demand for comfort.

The Inn of Three Spells was an impressive structure of stone and hardwood for its free clients, and an excavated ditch to accommodate kettle and slaves. It didn't currently have any large caravans, and the four companions would hardly make a difference to the almost empty Inn.

Daphne was the first to enter, and the sight of crimson was enough to make even the lonesome bard stop his melody. She basked in the respect for a moment, and then gave a small nod to the room, allowing people to continue with their affairs.

Next came in Chathi Ankhalab, her partner's liaison. Like her brother she was both athletic and attractive, sporting a number of probably enchanted tattoos along her arms, but her prey were beasts rather than slaves. She was a ranger, a magnificent tracker and master of the wilderness, as her matched swords and unstringed bow certainly attested. Mulani born, she kept her sandy blonde hair short and her fine features well highlighted by a tasteful amount of make over.

Ariadne Soza followed Chathi. Like many militant clerics she didnt refrain from heavy armor, she wore a surprisingly plain banded mail. Ariadne had approximately Daphne's age, but more generous curves hidden under all that metal. Unlike some free Rashemi folks Ariadne allowed her dark hair to grow long, but the meticulous braiding made it impossible to confuse her with any ****. Her weapon of choice, a glaive, was too unwieldy if they had any problems inside.

Siheow was last, the lion man towered over anyone else in the Inn. He also wore armor, a light chain shirt, but unlike the others it appeared to be more for show than truly covering all his vital organs, and carried not only his shield and spears, but also the three bag of holdings that, miraculously, managed to hold all their luggage without weighting more than a few pounds.

"... that isn't squid, that is an illithid!" Ariadne and Daphne both laughed, but more at Chathi's impersonation than the joke itself. Ariadne tossed her braided hair and looked at Siheow's stout face and repeated the joke, this time in Sylvan, making her own impersonation of the tentacle faced monster. The wemic smirked his fangs and chuckled a bit.

"You know his language?"Chathi appeared impressed "Ask him how our dear Red Wizard was in bed".

"Yes, ask. I was curious to know what he thought of me" Daphne also moved her eyes to the Wemic.

If the lion centaur had any qualms about being put in the spotlight he didn't show. "Loud" he answered in the common tongue.

"Loud?" Daphne repeated, incredulous, but not particularly offended.

"Loud isn't bad" Chathi patted the dryad's hand, but before she could continue some newcomers entered through the doors. Unlike Daphne these didn't command fear and respect, there were **** survivors of some sort of attack. The innkeeper was about to send them off when Chathi said "Wait, bring them here and let them tell their story. You can put their food and lodgings on our tab."

"D-dragon. It was huge! With bat wings, green scales, and so many teeth! it swallowed a lamb in one bite. But his eyes, oh his eyes!" the teller was still dazed and was in a hush to spill out as much as he could, he meandered about important and unimportant facts in no particular fashion, but eventually it became clear that the creature came from the East, attacked his farm, gorged himself on his livestock, then raided the house for whatever shiny object he could find. After not finding much his breath weapon simply destroyed all that was left.

"And in which direction did it go?" Daphne looked puzzled at Chathi. Regardless of how sad the story was it didnt really concern them. The ranger gave the man a golden coin, a show of **** kindness, and to companions she said.

"It sounded like an adult green dragon, it must have been expelled from its old lair and relocated here." she actually sounded thrilled at the prospect. "Old enough to have a good treasure, and recently enough it didnt have time to properly trap his lair yet."