Goriel and Beyond, Part 5

[Alberich]

[OOC: I can't actually see Udo struggling to think unsexy thoughts if he's in physical contact with Tamina...big question from me to you, JR, is, would it really be in chracter for Tamina to stay behind when Jamie runs off like that? My read of Tamina is that she'd run after Jamie and Udo would run after her...unless the hot elf chicks started getting naked again right then...and maybe even then, there being certain obligations a Noble Knight Protector must fulfill, even at the price of seeing titties...I'll try to get something written later tonight. An answer on that question would help me though.]

[Jack Rothwell]

OOC If Jaime left Tamina behind, no, in the average situation she wouldn't stay. But if it was obvious that Jaime was gone (after a few hours of trudging around, say) that would at least be a reason for her to make camp with the other group and if, in that time, someone was to mention something about the ralkin to her... *cough*hint**cough*

Are we good to go?/OOC

[Alberich]

[OOC: If that's the case then Anfisa and Drusia will definitely arrive before those few hours of trudging are done, while Udo and Tamina are away looking for Jamie. I'll write later when I can.]

[Drusia]

Desiree:

Things are tense for a while. And then Jamie runs off. His or her companions seem somewhat distraut, and head off after him or her. With the intent to bring her back?

Also, since when were we trying to take Blaize alive? He's a death mage - the last time Rose faced on of those, I hear it was kill or be killed. Not the kind of situation where you want to risk taking prisoners. Sort of like Errants.

Whatever. Theresa seems distracted by all the goings on. I wanted to talk more with her, but -

Two figures approach camp. Several people tense, but it's just my mother and Anfisa. Mother looks tired, and Anfisa looks scared. I run over and hug Anfisa tightly.

"I told you we'd get you out of there," I tell her. I'm not sure if she wants me to kiss her or not - she might not be in the mood for romance after what she's just been through.

I mouth the words "thank you" to my mother over Anfisa's shoulder. She smiles and nods. Then she walks over to Rose.

"Is there somewhere for me to sleep?" she asks Rose, wavering slightly on her feet.

-- Desiree

[Alberich]

Poor Anfisa was dressed for a night of pleasure in high city walls, not roughing it under rural skies. She did have a cloak around her, but it was meant to conceal her on shopping trips. She hadn't liked the night walk over stony ground, and the one saving grace was that her personal chemistry, though delicious to Desiree, was not so to mosquitoes.

Stumbling a little - the stones had bruised - she ran forward to meet Desiree's embrace. She clasped her tightly. There was more than passion in that embrace. She hadn't had a good night and was more than a little frightened.

"Is there somewhere for me to sleep?"

Tim's mouth tightened a little. So the damned elf was back for more of her domineering ways. Which his "friends" would cheer on if he were stupid enough to stand for it. Well, he'd decided this morning to stop standing for it and he'd keep on that way. "Sleep" sounded like a very good idea - his own watch would come soon enough. He looked to Rose to see if she had other orders before he caught a nap.

[Graybeard]

"Is there somewhere for me to sleep?"

Why do these things keep happening to me? Sister Rose wondered. Sometimes it felt as if she was carrying her own personal weirdness vortex around with her. The concept wasn't entirely absurd, actually; there'd been some professor at Emerylon University who had a theory that there was a correlation between magic use in a locality and non-magical but utterly bizarre occurrences in that same locality. He'd called the effect "Quantum Weirdness," for Luminosita alone knew what reason; Rose had no idea what a "quantum" was, and she was pretty sure she didn't want to know. However, there was no denying that she was exposed to considerably more magic than the average Veracian ... and the weirdness, well ...

"There are extra blankets in the wagon, I think," she gestured. At the very least, the newcomer could use her own; she and Argus would be sleeping at different hours for the rest of the night, and could share. At some other time she'd have tried to settle the sleeping arrangements to accommodate the skittish getera, the nervously chaste Tim, and so on, but this seemed like a night for sleeping, not dalliances, so she didn't worry about it.

Instead, she focused on where the curiously overequipped girl (speaking of weirdness!) had been standing before she bolted into the wilds. Reckless, that one; there hadn't been any reason to go running off like that. She looked at where the -- kobold, was that right -- and the rather scruffy, Tsuirakuan-looking man were fidgeting, trying to decide whether to follow the girl. At the moment, she honestly didn't care whether they did or not. However, the fading light of the fire revealed that Jamie had dropped something on the ground as she fled. Rose bent to pick it up.

[OOC: This is written so as to leave it open whether Tamina and Udo stuck around or went off looking for Jamie. I'd actually prefer the former; when Jasmine Porter shows up in the morning, they'll have their own search party to be part of ... But it need not be so. Do whatever makes sense.]

[Alberich]

[OOC: By Jack's last message, and by both their characters, it's obvious they'd both go running after her right away. Why they don't find her is not clear to me, but they don't.]

The dropped item proved to be a decidedly uncouth item for personal pleasurification, which if shown to Desiree would leave her in little doubt as to the sex of the departed stranger. Tamina and Udo hoofed it after her right away - Udo having to restrain the kobold from yelling "JAAAYYYYY-MEEEE!"

[Drusia]

I lead Anfisa towards my tent. She didn't exactly dress for the occasion. Maybe... um... hmmm.... All the women in this group are fairly tall - I don't know if we'll be able to find her much in the way of travel clothes. Maybe Lillith or Argus could hem one of my dresses?

I pause to tell Rose I'm heading to bed, but stop and blink at what she's picked up. "Oh - if you need an aide de amour, I'm sure my mother or I could provide you with one. No need to pick one off the dirty ground." I smile innocently at her and continue on to my tent. I'd show Anfisa a few of my own, but I think she needs her sleep tonight. Cuddling will likely be the extent of our evenings activities. Too bad - I could have used a little relaxation after that talk with Theresa. She's... intense. And slippery. Somehow, she managed to entirely avoid talking about herself.

That's okay. The game isn't any fun if there isn't any challenge involved.

"Goodnight," I say to the group at large, closing the tent flap behind myself and Anfisa.

-- Desiree

OOC: Alberich, how would an aide de amour tell Desiree what gender Jamie is? Anything* that can be used on/by a woman can also be used on/by a man, if that man is so inclined. And sufficiently lubricated.

*With a very few, very specific exceptions.

[Alberich]

Anfisa proved not to be in the mood for the same sort of cuddling as before - what she was doing tonight would be better described as "clinging," with an undertone of "sobbing." Though if Desiree held onto her quietly long enough it would doubtless be followed by what they call "sleeping."

The item recovered by Rose, on closer examination, proved to have a switch that shouldn't be there on this item. The switch proved to activate a nasty-looking little blade that called not only Jamie's sex, but her species, back into question.

[OOC: Play the odds and call it a "hint," or better still just forget I said it.]

[OOC2: Concept is similar to the "Little Wonder" from Oklahoma.]

[Jack Rothwell]

Tamina was fast, the problem was, so was Jaime.

Ultimately what caused the kobold and her stout knight protector to lose her young lover came down to one simple thing; surprise. By the time Tamina realized Jaime wasn't pulling some crazy, wacky hijinxs the tomboy was gone. The kobold got to the top of a slope to get a vantage point just in time to see the girl disappearing into the thick undergrowth of a wooded patch in the distance.

Her second mistake was channeling to catch up.

Panic which had seized the kobold's mind, coupled with an unfortunately placed pothole, turned the humanoid's magically galvanized run into a hard fall. She struck the earth and saw stars, not regaining her senses until her companion caught up.

"Where is she!" She asked, a low whine in the back of her throat.

"Come on! We can still catch her."

Tamina was helped to her feet and took off in the direction her girlfriend her departed in, trying to ignore the voice in her back of her mind saying that Udo was wrong.

OOC These two'll return to camp later./OOC