Size Matters? Anteo Shortshanks

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Size Matters? Anteo Shortshanks

Anteo is surrounded by light, and then he feels himself being thrust forward and sees Sophitia’s body coming up to meet him. His fall is cushioned by her though it wouldn’t really have been that bad to begin with.

She however is lying on her back in the muck of this cobbled alley that the two have landed in. When Anteo first left the light he had a split second to see Sophitia’s face, her expression terrified as she stared skyward. Then he landed with his face falling embarrassingly between he bosoms. Quickly rolling to the side, while keeping his eyes on her, Anteo is surprised to find that she did not seem to react to this, except for a cry of pain, which somehow did not disrupt her terrified upward gaze. Lying in the muck of the alley, he slowly turns his head, working his way from her face, up the wall beside her. Its architecture is strange though it appears to be the side of a building… The architecture itself doesn’t seem entirely consistent, and spikes jut from the sides like decoration. Looking higher, he reaches the top of the building, but instead of being greeted by sky or clouds, what he sees is another city above him… or below him. He isn’t certain as a feeling of vertigo momentarily overtakes him.

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Anteo staggers, barely

Anteo staggers, barely stopping himself from throwing up his dinner as he steadies himself against the oddly-designed wall. He turns to make sure Sophitia is alright. "Sophitia, my green-eyed maiden, whose eyes shimmer like little frogs sitting on slippery rocks in shady rockpool, are you alright?" There is genuine concern in his voice, but he just cannot manage to keep a dramatic edge off it.

He holds Sophitia around the waist (which is about as far as he can reach), trying to comfort her. "I don't know where we are, or why, but you've nothing to fear so long as I, Anteo, your cunning, quick-witted, dashing and daring protector is here to protect you!" He says the last part with his arm vigorously thrusting at the air, immitating the thrusts and parries of an imaginary duel.

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The terrified young

The terrified young noblewoman sits up slowly, the back of her expensive dress now smudged with large amounts of grime. Tears are in her eyes but through her terror a small hint of relief is visible as she looks down at her little lover. She opens her mouth to speak, but gets a surprised look on her face and immediately turns away to avoid evacuating her stomach contents onto him. Collapsing forwards onto her hands and knees in the muck, she coughs and wheezes for a moment, then slowly turns back to Anteo, her eyes still watering. "Anteo... W- where are... How did we get here?"

Now that he has a chance to look around, Anteo realizes that they are indeed in an alley. The ground is cobbled, rather poorly, and is covered in grime. Meanwhile the walls, with their unusual apparent mixture of alien architecture are covered with various types of graffiti. Most of it is unintelligible, though some can be made out. 'Rorinok is two hands long.' 'Garkos is three hands long' 'Perry is three and a half long.' Under these is another message. 'Selerin has 8 n ½ thanks to above.’


The only think that all the walls seems to have in common is the strange spikes jutting from all of them, and the strange vine-like things weaving their ways up the sides… The leaves of these vines seem bladelike… sharp.


Anteo and Sophitia are in a dimly lit alley. One end seems to open up into a brighter street where figures pass by every once in a while. The other end comes up in a three way intersection with a wall directly across, and another ally moving left and right. This second alley is rather darker. Aside from muck and garbage, the alley is empty. Sophitia tries to stagger to her feet and brush her hands off on the lap of her dress. She looks around forlornly and then again at Anteo is if he is the only thing in the world she can count on.

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A stern expression crosses

A stern expression crosses the gnome's face as he utters morosely, "I don't know where we are or how we came here, but I'll find out!"

Anteo approaches the alley wall, studying it closely and trying to compare it to the myriad cities he has seen in his time as a court herald. Finding that this place he's found himself in bears no resemblance to anywhere he has previously visited, he begins to search for points of reference that might help him discover his location... The materials used in constructing the alley are unfamiliar, as are the various architectural styles, and so Anteo decides to look closely at the blade-like vines...

 

(OOC: sorry, first time using the dice-roller... Un-trained nature check:

0 Bonus for to do untrained nature check
I rolled 1d20+0, the result is 16.
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Anteo examines the wines

Anteo examines the wines more closely, but aside from determining that they have beautiful black leaves that look razor sharp, he is unable to determine more than that just by sight with his lack of knowledge.

 (OOC: Sorry, but you can't actually make a knowledge check untrained. Sad )

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Unpertubed, Anteo carefully

Unpertubed, Anteo carefully plucks a couple of leaves and places them in his pocket, as much out of curiosity as for any real need.

Weighing up his options,  he decides to take the sensible route. The gnome reaches up to take the hand of Sophitia and tries to gently steer her towards the brighter end of the alley. "Don't worry, my gilt-edged porcelin dove, everything will be alright soon. Just follow me, and don't look ...up!"

 

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Anteo reaches out to pluck

Anteo reaches out to pluck one of the leaves, only to reflexively pull his hand away in pain. The think is actually as sharp as it look, and he's bleeding from a cut on his palm. Thankfully it is not life threatening but his hand hurts like hell, and it would be hard to use it. Sophitia gasps and stutters, "A- Anteo! Are you alright?"

She seems relieved when he goes to help her up, and steadies herself momentarily before walking with him towards the edge of the alley. As they near the end Sophia gasps once again, and nearly stumbles in surprise. And the reason is obvious. It is now possible to make out the shapes that are walking past the end of the alley and they are varied to say the least. While some are recognizable as human or close, some are very different, just in a few seconds of walking, a humanoid creature that seems to have metal spikes protruding from all over it's skin walks by, and then what appears to be an elf with jet black skin and white hair. She glances over her shoulder and speeds up a bit, and the reason is apparent soon after as a tall purple humanoid with long tentacles where it's mouth would normally be comes floating along after her a couple of feet above the ground, though it seems more interested in the scroll it's examining than the woman.

Just then, a young, pale skinned, human woman wearing a skimpy outfit made up of a foot long skirt and a ragged, sleeveless, low collared blouse that barely covers her chest and medium length brown red hair comes around the corner into the alley from the left. She is looking over her shoulder and speaking to someone who she leads by the hand. "... me and I'll show ye-" she pauses when she sees Anteo and Sophitia staring at her, and cocks her head slightly. "Ay? What da ye want?" The person who is being led by her appears to be a middle aged human male with a bald head and pale, slightly yellowish skin, who wears an unremarkable shirt, slacks, and boots. They both have rather poor quality clothing, the male has a short sword on his belt. He frowns at the gnome, though looking up at Sophitia his expression changes to one of lust.

One odd thing Anteo notices almost immediately about the woman he at first thought was human is that she has a rat like tail growing from her back.  Because of this she has to wear her skirt even lower, bellow her hip in fact, making her look quite trampy. It's curls around the human male's leg ever so slightly.

OOC: Take one point of damage.

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Thank you for voting...

Thank you for voting...

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Anteo does his best to

Anteo does his best to ignore the man's leering, then pulls Sophitia close to him in a protective manner, putting himself between the two women. He addresses the woman in as loud and authoritive tone as he can muster:

"Perhaps I should be asking the same question of you, madam? What manner of creature sports the body of a woman and the behind of a rodent? I know a good conjurer who could fix that for you in one afternoon for a handful of cheap wizzberries and a back massage." 

 

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The young woman with a rat's

The young woman with a rat's tail, who had at first regarded Anteo with a mixture of curiousity and surprise, immediately scowls at him darkly.  "Wha?!"  She squawks.  "You-"  Instead of saying anything else to him though, she turns back to the man behind her and smiles sweetly.  "Well tell ye what love, teach this li'l berk a lesson an I'll give ye a discount.  Wadda ye say, 25 jinks?"  The only man looks down at Anteo, then leers up at Sophitia and grins.  "Hm, I say ye've got a deal, lass."  He starts to draw his sword but the woman grabs his arm.  "Hey!  I didn't say ta put him in the dead book ya leatherhead!  I said- augh!"  "Git off." The man shouts, backhanding her, and causing her to stumble back hard against a wall and cry out in pain.  He turns back to the two confused and lost people standing before him and grins again.  "So... here's an idea.  How about ye give me all yer jink, or the girl, and I let ye go."

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Anteo says nothing in

Anteo says nothing in reply, just gently pulls Sophitia behind him and raises his hands before him. He begins to utter a short string of mystical words, weaving his hands in an intricate pattern as he does so... "Arshentus, maritulis, kava-encioch!"

OOC: Anteo attempts to cast Cause Fear on the man with the sword (assuming he is within 35 feet). DC = d20 + 3 (CHA mod.) + 1 (spell level)

 

4 Bonus for Charisma modifier + Spell level to do cast Cause Fear on the man with the short sword
I rolled 1d20+4, the result is 18.
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Please roll initiative.

Please roll initiative. Spells work a little differently in 3.5, you have a difficulty class that = 10 + the spell's level + the bard's charisma modifier + any misc. modifiers from feats or whatever. So in your case it would be DC 14. Also, don't forget to keep track of your spells per day. Also, you may want to consider taking a free five foot step back, as casting a spell with an enemy in an adjacent square has a chance for painful results, for you.

 

-1 Bonus for to do
I rolled 1d20+-1, the result is .
-0 Bonus for to do
I rolled 1d20+-0, the result is .
I rolled 1d20+-0, the result is .
0 Bonus for to do
I rolled 1d20-1+0, the result is 19.
I rolled 1d20-1+0, the result is 3.
I rolled 1d20+0, the result is 10.
I rolled 1d20+1+0, the result is 3.
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OOC: Okay, didn't realise

OOC: Okay, didn't realise they were all so close together! Cheers.

Suddenly realising the seriousness of the situation, Anteo decides to try and neautrilise the situation before things get any more dangerous.

"Sophitia, get behind me, quickly!" Anteo backs away from the man with the sword, pushing Sophitia behind him as he does so, then begins to cast a spell, weaving his hands before him in strange eldritch patterns while chanting.

OOC: Takes a 5 foot step backwards, then casts Cause Fear at the man with DC 14.

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Please roll initiative.  We

Please roll initiative.  We can't procede until the combatants roll initiative.  It's 1d20 + dex modifier + any other modifiers you have for it, like the feat, Improved Initiative.

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OOC: Doh, sorry, forgot.

OOC: Doh, sorry, forgot.

6 Bonus for Dex + Improved Initiative to do roll initiative
I rolled 1d20+6, the result is 21.
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Sophitia isn't quite on top

Sophitia isn't quite on top of things, and doesn't step back in time, but neither does she resist Anteo shoving her back. Anteo takes a step back, keeping Sophitia behind him, but it seems to have been unnecessary after all as the thug simply glares at him stupidly while he casts his spell, perhaps not quite realizing what he is doing. Around the time that realization starts to dawn on him however the spell has begun to take effect. His eyes, still locked onto Anteo, widen with fear, and he recoils. His hand dropping away from his weapon, he takes a step back, then another. Then with a shriek, he turns and flees, turning right at the end of the alley and running down the street. Several passers by stop to watch him for a short moment before continuing on quicker than before.

The tailed woman stands at the end of the alley grimacing as she holds onto the back of her head with one hand and the base of her tail with the other. She turns and smiles nervously at the gnome. "H-hey love, n-no hard feelings right? I was only playin' that leatherheaded berk didn' get it an thought I was serious, see?" She starts to walk but grimaces again and looks back at them. "H-hey, wadda ya say I make it up to ya? You two look like you're from out-o-town. Lemme help ya! I can show ya around, yeknow, I won't even charge as much as a tout, an' if ye need some other services, I can help withat too..." She grins hopefully, showing surprisingly large canine teeth.

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Anteo relaxes his

Anteo relaxes his threatening posture and casts an appraising eye over the be-tailed woman. "You can start by telling us where we are" he says sternly. Then, more gently, he says "Are you hurt much? If I were the type for bloodshed I wouldn't have sent your friend running for the hills without so much as a scratch, would I?"

OOC: Anteo uses sense motive to try and guess the woman's true intentions. Is she really offering her services for free to save her skin, or has she got something more sinister in mind? Anteo wonders. 

4 Bonus for sense motive ranks to do sense motive
I rolled 1d20+4, the result is 7.
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She seems sincere, but

She seems sincere, but Anteo really isn't sure.  The one thing he's sure about is that she didn't offer anything for free, just for less. 

 "Of course, cutter."  The woman answers immediately.  "You're in Sigil, the City o' Doors, or The Cage as locals call it.  The one city in the in all existence where if it exists, it can probably be found."  She looks a bit unnerved by Anteo's assurment, "Uh, I don'... Y- Yeah, of course not... Uh, don' worry abou' me.  I've had worse."  Though just as she says this she flinches visibly.

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"Hmmm, Sigil, y'say...

"Hmmm, Sigil, y'say... never heard of it." Anteo makes a display of patting down his pockets and rummaging in his pack, then turns to Sophitia and says "I currently find myself in the embarrassing, but temporary, position of having no funds that I can draw upon immediately... if you'd care to have a local show us around, perhaps you could fork out a little cash?" He further embellishes this last part with his cheekiest grin. 

Turning back to the strange woman, Anteo introduces himself and his companion, bowing at the waist, and asks for her name.

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Sophitia smiles at her

Sophitia smiles at her little man, but looks worried as she looks down at herself, her lovely dress stained with the dirt and grime of the alley floor. "Uh... did I... Oh that's right!" The young human woman reaches into her bodice and retrieves a small, finely crafted velvet pouch. "Here it is." It seems at least that she is starting to recover from her near catatonic state of shock.

The woman seems temporarily stunned by Anteo's manners. "Er, uh. I... Please ta meet such top self bloods as yourselves." she mutters, making an abortive attempt at a curtsey which she quickly gives up on when she remembers just how short her skirt is. She looks embarrassed, again smiling nervously, and adds, "Uh, me? Uh, I'm just Nelia.... Oh yea, I'm a tiefling... Ye'know, if ye want to know." She holds out her hand hesitantly and Anteo can see that her fingernails are over about an inch long from the base. They're also dark, sort of clawlike. However, her hands don't look terribly dirty. Seeing Sophitia's pouch she adds "Oh, one jink'll be good miss."

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Anteo takes Nelia's hand

Anteo takes Nelia's hand and bends to kiss it. He quickly glances at Sophitia to wink at her if she should show any signs of being upset by this.

"Nelia, have you seen any angry looking noblemen around here? (he gives a quick description of Donald) Possibly being escorted by a female bugbear? Regardless, we'd better get out of here in case he comes looking. Take us somewhere we can lie low for a little while, maybe have a drink and you can explain this mysterious 'City of Doors' as you call it..." 

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Sophitia raises an eyebrow

Sophitia raises an eyebrow in Anteo's direction, but doesn't otherwise say anything.  Nelia however, immediately tenses, and he get's the feeling that she would yank her hand away in an instant if she weren't still worried about angering him.  When it becomes clear to her that the gnome is not in fact going to bite her, she slowly relexes, but continues to look worriedly at him.

 "Ye won't find many top self bashers 'round here.  This is The Hive Ward.  If ye do see one though ye can be sure they're up to no good, and best avoided.  This blood a friend of yours?"

 "I... What?  Blood- Bash- what?"  Sophitia chimes in.

 "Oh right, forgot you two were Cluele-"  The tiefling pauses nervously, looking from Sophitia to Anteo and back again before stuttering out, "Forgot you two were... ye'know, new in town...  Uh...  What I meant was, 'Is he your friend'?"

 Sophitia's eyes somehow widen and she let's out a light and lovely giggle.  "Heavens no... He's my fiance.  Hopefully I'll never see the cowardly brute again.  Nor his... Bugbear."

Nelia shrugs.  "Well....  Ye say ye want somewhere ta lay down?  I guess we could go back to my place, but it;s really a mess, and I don't have drinks.  If you're looking for drinks, there're a few places I can take you c'mon."  She turns and starts moving back towards the street again with a visible limp.

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Anteo holds Sophitia back

Anteo holds Sophitia back for a moment and (standing on the tips of his toes) whispers in her ear: "This Nelia woman could prove useful to us, and she seems harmless enough at the moment. Perhaps we could try to get healed, as a show of good faith? I don't know how - I've not the wits for it - do you know any of the healing arts?"

He waits for her answer then speaks again "Something makes me think we won't have to worry about running into Donald and his henchwoman any time soon, maybe a tavern would be a good place to get some information about where we are, either from other locals or just from Nelia."

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"Me, a healer?" Sophtia

"Me, a healer?" Sophtia utters in surprise, then lets out a small giggle. "Oh, I think I'd be terrible at that. I get faint at the sight of blood. But are you sure it's a good idea to trust this tramp? I mean, she did just tell her brute to attack you, and look at her. She's got a tail, and claws... and her clothes..." The young noblewoman shakes her head. "Though I guess she's the only... person... we know, and I could use a drink."

Nelia stops and turns, rubbing her hip. "You bloods comin'?"

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"I don't trust her

"I don't trust her completely either, but you're right, she's all we've got. If you see her do anything suspicious, just shout. As for the claws and that tail, I figure if she doesn't do anything to hide them, they must not be all that uncommon here in ...the Hive was it? We'll just stay alert. It's all we can do until we figure out where we are and why!"

 Anteo leads Sophitia by the hand after Nelia. 

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"Anteo, I'm not a child, I

"Anteo, I'm not a child, I don't need you to lead me by the ha- a... alright... Maybe just for a little bit" Stepping out of the alley, Anteo realizes that this was perhaps in one of the better alleys in this area.  The cobbles on the street itself are in terrible shape, some large patches are completely unpaved.  Looking around reveals more obvious poverty, several beggars sit against the walls of buildings or attempt to solicit passers by for coppers.  "Don' give em anythin', you give ta one, the others'll swarm ya like vermin.  You're gonna get bobbed somewhere in that mess, for everything you've got."  There's graffiti on almost every surface, and more of those strange spikes and strange plants which Anteo's hand still hurts from touching it, though the bleeding has slowed.  It would still hurt to use the hand to grasp anything.  "Are you sure your hand is alright Anteo?"  Sophitia asks, remembering her lover's injury since the immediate threat of violence is gone.  "Ooh, looks like ye found some Razorvine.  Yeah, ye don' want ta be touchin' that with yer bare skin.  Nasty stuff."  Nelia comments helpfully.  "I gotta say though, you're lucky you ended up here.  That is, in that alley.  You're in the Gray District.  One o' the safest, an cleanest places in th' Hive.  Ye won' find no deaders in the streets here. The Dusties make sure they're all collected and taken to the Mortuary.  Big building in the middle o' the district.  I'm takin' you to a tavern though called the Smoulderin' Corpse.  Dunno what the name's about either.  Heard somethin' abou' a flamin' guy useta work there or somethin'.  Like, a human torch."  She shrugs.  Continuing the walk , Anteo notices more beggers, and several scantily clad beings of various races standing around, apparently soliciting sex to passers by.  If he knows anything about modern civilization, he'd be fairly certain they were prostitutes.  Most of them are women, but a few are clearly male, and several are... ambiguous.  Some of them are rather reminiscent of his guide.  "I knew it!"  Sophitia blurts out.  "She's a whore!"  The Tiefling turns stops and turns to the Human with cocked eyebrow that clearly says she thinks she's nuts.  "You barmy?"  She asks.  Sophitia seems both confused and embarrassed, and looks away, then down at the ground, folding her hands in front of her.  "Well, I guess now's as good a time as any ta ask, got any questions?"

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Anteo gulps down his

Anteo gulps down his embarrassment at Sophitia's outburst and says "Since you're offering... what in fact are you? Why do you have those claws and that tail? Why is everyone here some weird species I've never seen, despite having been to the four corners of the world? And what is with the gods-damned city floating over our heads?"

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"Whoa whoa, calm down

"Whoa whoa, calm down Cutter." Nelia responds, making placating hand gestures.  Like I said, I'm a Tiefling.  I dunno what "species" means but, I aren't one if you aren', an' neither is anyone else s'far as I know.  There're lotso humans about, an' a few smaller fellows like you as well,"  Looking around, it's pretty clear that there are in fact several human's around, and Anteo also spots a rather shady looking pointy eared fellow that is at least half elven.  As for the city, well, where else would it be?  I mean, it's a ring in't it?  If you're standin' on one side, t'other's above you."

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Anteo stumbles and swoons a

Anteo stumbles and swoons a little as he is overcome by a sudden feeling of vertigo. He looks up at the arch of cityscape soaring overhead and vanely tries to make sense of it all. "Okay, I'm definitely going to need a drink before you explain any more. Let's head to the Smouldering Corpse."

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Nelia shrugs and continues

Nelia shrugs and continues walking. Anteo sees several other strange beings as he follows, creatures with the body of an animal but the torso and up of a humanoid sprouting from where the animal body's neck would be. Several winged humanoids fly overhead at one point, quickly disappearing among the roof tops. And a strange, tall, thin creature with horns on it's head floats past, it's feet hovering several inches above the ground. "Oi, hold up a moment. See that there?" Nelia says, stopping to point out the floating humanoid. "Thats a Dabus. They're sorta like... well, they're servants of The Lady, it's best not to bother them if ye don't want trouble. And if ye hurt one, yer only chance is to take the first portal you see an' get outa town.... oh... an' here we are." Nelia turns to her left, and points to a building about thirty feet away that seems to have several prostitutes hawking their services nearby. Some of them notice Nelia and look annoyed. The large black building has a sign on it that reads, 'Smoldering Corpse Bar' in large text, and underneath, in smaller text it reads 'Hear the harrowing tale of a MAN ON FIRE and his quest for vengeance, inside.'

Throughout the tour, Sophitia has held onto Anteo's hand, she's managed to handle everything about as well as he has, though she has been a bit too shocked to ask any questions.

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"Why are those ...er...

"Why are those ...er... 'ladies of the night' looking at you that way, Nelia?" Anteo whispers. He makes a show of pulling Sophitia close in case the prostitutes think that Nelia is stealing one of their customers. "Why don't we get ourselves inside and find a nice dark corner?"

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Nelia returns the scowls of

Nelia returns the scowls of the prostitutes before turning her gaze back to the two she is guiding with a much more pleasant expression. "Stupid greenskirts think this is their turf or some screed. Never you mind em though." She starts to walk past them, scowling, but Sophitia holds Anteo back for a moment. "I knew it!" She whispers, "She's a... dirty woman! We can't trust her!"  Several of the "greenskirts" are now eying Anteo appraisingly, while others eye Sophitia with obvious contempt.

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Anteo clamps a hand (gently)

Anteo clamps a hand (gently) over Sophitia's mouth, and replies in a whisper "Shh! She's the only ...person we know here! She is, for all intents and purposes, our oldest and dearest friend in the whole wide world! If we play our cards right we might just find out why we're here, and how to get back to our own world!"

Anteo deliberately ignores the "greenskirts" and follows Nelia into the Smouldering Corpse bar...

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Sophitia at first glares

Sophitia at first glares at Anteo as he silences her, but as he speaks she seems to calm down.  "I... alright... yes... Though I'm not sure I even want to go back.  What is there for me there?"  She shakes her head and follows him towards the Bar, they pass by the greenskirts and several of them make lude but complementary comments about Anteo's appearance, and what they'd like to do with him if he paid them a few "greens".  A world weary looking halfling, the only in the group, suggests he's overcompensating with such a "large" woman as Sophitia.  Right about then it starts to rain, and the greenskirts squeal and scatter.  "Ah!"  Sophitia exclaims, and hurries inside.  It becomes clear why as a droplet lands on Anteo's exposed skin, and causes a stinging sensation before he reaches the door.

 

Inside, the scantilly clad Nelia turns to look at them with her hands on her hips.  "Here ye're Cutter.  The Smolderin' Corpse."

 (OOC:  Thanks to Azriael for this description, it's mostly his words.)

As Anteo steps in from the organic reek of the hive into the flickering semi-darkness of the smouldering corpse bar the first thing that hits him is the heat of the place, though somewhat uncomfortable and smoky the hot, dry air is a welcome change from the grimy drizzle. One massive, blackened iron grate in the centre of the entryway seems to contain a tremendous fire-pit, the flames stopping just short of the metal. Oddly enough the stones surrounding the grate seem to have been somewhat melted at some point in the past from a intense heat coming from above rather than below. The main fire-pit is supplemented by a series of smaller pits dotted around the large entryway, providing illumination for the rest of the unlit establishment. The worst of the heat and smoke is carried out through several brass chimneys in the roof, cunningly crafted to avoid any intake of rainwater.

His gaze is immediately captured by what appears to be the illusion of a badly burned man, wreathed in flames who writhes in apparent pain as he hovers above the main pit.

The entryway is separated from the encircling taproom by a railing supported by bladed pillars as is the local style with three large, barbed arches allowing passage from one area to the other. The taproom is 3’ above the level of the entryway and grows progressively dimmer as one moves away from the flames. This area houses a scattering of sturdy tables for the mostly quiet crowd of beings who fill the bar.

The bar itself sits towards the rear of the establishment, manned by a large surly looking human.



"So! Let's get pissed!"  The tiefling calls out.  Sophitia stares at her blankly.  Several of the rather colorful asortment of patrons look over at the newcomers, some clearly leering at the imodestly dressed young Tiefling, the unbelievably gorgeous young human, and the handsome Gnome.

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Anteo staggers backwards a

Anteo staggers backwards a step from the combined shock of the intense heat, the flaming "corpse" and the general strangeness of the place, but does his best to conceal his surprise. At Nelia's suggestion he perks up markedly, replying "Seconded!" Turning to Sophitia and the tiefling, he asks "What're ye drinkin' tonight, ladies?", doing his best to mimmick the local slang and accent, and heads towards the bar to order a round.

Sophitia's comment about not wanting to return to Terra is giving him serious food for thought, and he mentally vows to make the most of Sigil, and not let the weirdness of the place get him down! For now, he's going to be carefull and not get too much yet - he doesn't want to let his guard down completely yet, although he's starting to trust Nelia more now. 

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Nelia seems surprised by

Nelia seems surprised by the response but quickly replies, "Oo, I'll have an Elf's Blood Ale! Don't worry it's not real Elf's blood, they don't carry that kinda bub here... Least I don't think so. Anyway you oughta try it too, it's great!" Sophitia seems worried, but follows after Anteo without any more comment. Nelia on the other hand leads the way to the bar, excited at the apparent prospect of a free drink.

The bartender looks up from scrubbing at a dark spot on the counter and 'harumphs', then greets Anteo in a subdued tone. "Welcome to the Smolderin' Corpse Bar. Aven't seen you aroun' 'ere before. You from out of town? Well no matter, your gelt's just as good as any. What'll it be? An' what for the ladies?"

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Anteo decides to try his

Anteo decides to try his hand at the Sigil lingo and replies "Three pints o' Elf's Blood, cutter, and don't skimp on the viscera! We're not new in town, far from it! I'm a travelling mage, known in most parts as Conundrum, and this is my charming assistant. I usually travel in disguise, I am now, in fact, which is why you don't recognise me."

OOC: Anteo is attempting to bluff the bartender - he doesn't want anyone he doesn't know to know his name just yet. 

11 Bonus for CHAbluff the bartender into believing he is a mage called Conun to do bluff the bartender into believing he is a mage called Conundrum
I rolled 1d20+11, the result is 26.
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