>>5714890>17 v 14The Baron groans, and takes your hand in a firm grip, giving it a single hard shake and then pulling it away—not in disgust, but almost in shame.
“I can’t believe I’ve been made to look like the greedy miser in an exchange with a DRAGON,” he mutters.
“You did it yourself, dear,” the Baroness whispers, and he cringes.
“Dragonsss are ssimply better at greed than humansss,” you say cheerfully, with a grin to let him know you are joking—the expression, as usual, goes over better in your less-toothy ‘Long Wang’ visage. “You can attempt to get the better of me in our nexxxt negotiation, between more experienced misers than we two.”
“We four,” Ekaterine notes.
“Of courssse,” you say, giving her a squeeze.
You two males size each other up with an increased mutual respect, sealed by a pact, while your wives embrace and mime cheek-kisses. You understand this to be some form of gendered tradition, and are simply grateful the same is not expected of you and Brunus.
“Safe travels,” he bids you gruffly. “All things considered, you haven’t been my worst guest.”
“And you have been a mossst hospitable hossst,” you agree, “all things consssidered.”
He laughs at that, and you part ways—he to draw up paperwork and arrange men to move a train of wagons up into the mountains before first snowfall, and you to tell your own coterie of followers about your plans.
“What?” Azonia pouts. “You mean I won’t get to see Hawksong? Can I at least spend longer in town on the way back? The market—”
“They will be bringing trade goodsss back to Bloodrise,” you note. “You can trade for fabricsss and other ssuch frivolitiesss at that time.”
“’Frivolities’, you say, mister ‘commissions new clothes every season’?” the dark elf Duelist teases you, poking you in the chest.
You have no real retort, so fall back on the tried and true technique of stern silence, which seems to eventually break—or bore—the elf.
“Archer, Thief,” you address the half-human and the Silkscale, “you will accompany uss to Hawkssong.”
You resist the urge to tell them to be on-guard. Despite your vague feeling of dread, you have no reason to suspect anything is amiss in Hawksong—well, save the things you deliberately engineered TO be amiss, all to your benefit. And anyway, Oluwadamilare is a reliable companion, and the Thief a seasoned and properly-paranoid Reptilian Infiltrator and spymaster. You have no reason to fear either shall be anything but vigilant. Instead, you simply tell them to pack up your things, and you do likewise.
“Thank you again for this,” Ekaterine says, as you help her pack her bags, and she gives your hand a squeeze.
Is there anything you wish to attend to before you leave Blackpine and part ways with your companions? Anything you wish to do along the road to Hawksong?
>Yes [what?]>No [I’ll roll for random encounter chance, and then move on to Hawksong] 