Silvan is watching the door of the tavern, waiting for the group to come out. He planned on following from a distance. He would have to keep them in sight, but try not to be seen. Lea was a threat and she had two of his friends under control. He wasn't going to let her get away with that. He had tamed Slippy to save her from being experimented on, and Tila was someone he absolutely loved and would protect no matter what. No matter what Lea said, they were nothing alike. She had entranced them for her own purposes and he wasn't going to let that slide.
Riekan accepts his crystal as Pepper takes hers and Lea refuses one. He puts a hand on each of his women's waists and leads them outside. He sees his other friends and sighs. It would be best to limit contact for now, at least until they believed Lea was a threat. He kisses the top of Lea's head. "I won't let anything happen to you or Pepper, I promise." He whispers.
"That could still be arranged!" He gives a cracked smile to the rest, then leads him to a secluded corner. "Kamran, I want to talk fire arrows." Lea's form seems to be far too happy exiting with Riekan and Pepper in the background for his tastes. "More so than your ballistic ones. Now," he pulls a few flame charms from his satchel, "instead of the crystals, what about these? Trust me, I can flame these until they're practically bursting with pyromantic energy. One shot in a meadow of plantkind fiends should ruin the harvest if you know what I mean." "Also," he says more underhandedly, "I know what Vi'lea and Silvan would do, but if Lea gets out of hand, what are your plans?"
Oh, well, while they're on the subject... "These will be excellent! To be honest, I had considered igniting the farmer's fields, if not to destroy the fiends outright then to scatter them. My fear is that if the fire burns too quickly or approaches the farmhouse, that precludes us from rescuing anyone but ourselves. Vi'lea's ice magic might be necessary to control such a blaze." Kamran mulls over the Lea situation. She could be dangerous, certainly. He's unsettled how a sturdy knight and young girl have forgotten completely how their free will has been subverted. "To be honest, my Lea plans are to remain a distance apart where I can watch all of you. If she tries anything suspect, I'll plant one of my flash arrows in her back. Less likely to destroy her in one, but then neither will it do much harm to anyone around her."
"Ah, a fire break!" Andreas observes happily. "I've seen some of the elven cities in the forests do that when a thunderstorm has spawned a forest fire, of course." He pauses. "We'll need to talk to Vi'lea and Silvan, but from this, I'm thinking that we could corral them. Vi'lea blocks their exit, we rain down fiery hell, Riekan and Pepper can do cleanup while Silvan turns any unlucky, more human-like escapees into new members of his harem!" He blinks at the ranger's outfit. "Um, no offense intended at the word usage." He then nods. "You can use the excuse of being a rear guard or something." He shudders. "She'll be weakened at least, and I think Vi'lea has the ooze crystal Lyssa attuned yesterday." He drums his crossed arms wearily. "I really don't like this Kamran, I don't at all."
Kamran grins. "I wouldn't call it a direct one-to-one, but none taken. He does have a way with them. A solid plan all around. As for Lea, she is at least..." He gulps. "...mannered? Or maybe the worst part is she is mannered. Hard to say yet if this is genuine emotion or parasitism. Don't her kind turn women into more of themselves? Is it possible she was a woman at one point and retained parts of herself after transforming?"
"If her own comparison to Silvan is accurate, then it could be genuine emotion, but then that's like asking the opinion of a tick feasting on your arm." He harrumphes. "The slimes do. We witnessed the aftermath of that yesterday. And maybe that's the case for Lea, or maybe oozes just choose a human shape for our benefit." He made a sick expression with his mouth. "Sorry, wrong word. There's not much writing about them anyway, and what there is has a terrible residue all of it. After a while, the research material on the subject matter tends to have its qualities. And let's just say you don't check out one book on slimes at the academy library. You receive the whole shelf. It's a pain to read."
Kamran grimaces. "I... see. It sounds like a difficult topic on which to conduct original research, and yet if the existing material is..." He can't hold back his curious dread anymore, probing the aching tooth. "Dare I inquire as to the residue?"
"Leftovers. Same as this." Andreas scowls, brandishing the specimen tube. "Let's just say the works aren't as much published as they are found and returned." He pulls out his journal. "I don't intend on this joining them if I can help it."
Lea turning Riekan’s joke into an actual spanking is mildly amusing. Under different circumstances it might have been erotic, too, but right now Vi’lea is more interested in the problems the ooze can cause them than in how good the woman looks. Silvan is clearly unwilling to trust the ooze, and the dark elf doesn’t blame him. She too does not trust the woman, only she has chosen a different approach to the problem. One that requires her to wait and watch for now. But that’s not a bad thing – after all, Lea makes for such a nice living shield… The dark elf takes the new crystal and hides it in a different pocket. Vi’lea smiles at Lyssa. "Of course, my dear. Lead the way." She follows the elf.
There is a small, musty cellar just off the main room. It is dark and cool and Lyssa's body is warm as she pulls you into a long embrace. Her mouth devours yours and her thigh presses enticingly against your sex. But she stops herself from being drawn into her lust for you. She gasps for breath through her desire and her silver blue eyes flash in the darkness. "Vi'lea, I said it out there, but I wanted to say it again here," her hand rests on your breast. "Do not take chances that could cost you your life. Hurley means a great deal to me, but so do you. I expect you and Silvan to lead this expedition and watch out for your friends. They cannot be trusted with that ooze in your group." She gives you another kiss, her tongue teasing into your mouth. "You had better go, or they might leave without you."
"I’ll be careful, I promise." Vi’lea assures the elven woman. "I still have the pink crystal, and I also have a couple of nasty surprises prepared in case something goes wrong, be it with the ooze or with some other fiend. I will do everything in my power to bring us all back safely – Hurley included." The dark elf’s hands go to Lyssa’s ass and give it a brief squeeze while she gives the elf a short kiss on the lips. Then she removes her hands and pulls away. "Now I really should be going, before we get carried away. There will be time enough when we get back." Vi’lea and Lyssa leave the cellar and the dark elf goes to rejoin the group as they prepare to head out and begin the search.
If the others look around for Silvan, the probably don't see him. He might try to signal either Vi'Lea or Andreas over to him, but he wont take a chance of letting Lea, Riekan, or Pepper know what he is up to. (Lol basically whichever posts first wanting to talk to Silvan or GM's choice.)
Andreas mutters something unfortunate to himself, then tips his hat to Kamran. "Excuse me, there's someone else I wanted to talk to before we head out." He sees Vi'lea return from the cellar -- obviously a simple moment for the lovebirds -- and knows the group will be leaving shortly. He'll explain the plan along the way, but his current thoughts considered another matter. He opened the door into Silvan's visage. He smiled pathetically. "Silvan, care to talk?"
Silvan had saw Andreas first and waved him over to the alley across form the tavern where he was crouched with Slippy and Tila. "So what's the plan about hunting? Are you really planning to take the ooz with you?" Silvan wasn't happy about the idea. He was worried about Reikan and Pepper and didn't want the others to fall under her sway as well. They were his pack! His family! He'd see the ooz rot in hell before he let more people he cared about be hurt and treated like Tila was. (OOC: Does Silvan still have that last fire charm from the last fight? Nothing was said about him giving it back to Andreas and if he still has it, it could come in handy.)
Lyssa follows Vi'lea to the group and hands her the map. The elf gives a knowing look to Silvan before heading back inside. Vi'lea, according to the map, the way north to the timber camp seems to roughly follow a stream that cuts through the woods that generally surround Hommlet. It would actually be quicker to head straight to the timber camp, since the farm is a ways to the east. But you might want to go there first in the event that it would serve as a base of operations. Lea stays out of the conversation, allowing Riekan and Pepper to do most of the talking. "I think we should head to the farm," says the spunky redhead. "I don't know who owns it, but I know a couple boys in the village who worked there in summer. It's a cattle farm." (OOC: Silvan still has the fire charm)
"I agree." Vi’lea says after she hears Pepper’s suggestion. "Let’s start with the farm, in case there are any survivors held as prisoners there. Even if that is not the case it’s worth investigating, since it could be used as a base of operations. I doubt Torvek would be this easy to find, but maybe some of his servants… In any case we should all go there together. No people splitting off to explore on their own." As she says the last part the dark elf looks directly at Riekan.
"I don't trust her any more than you do Silvan, but I don't know many other options right now." Andreas shuffles quietly next to the fellgist. "Kamran will stick to a range attack in case she tries anything funny, and I may stay close to him. Lea can affect humans rather well it seems. You and Vi'lea might be safer in her proximity, but... I don't know. I don't know oozes. I don't want to take any chances here." Outwardly, to the group beyond the alley, Andreas agrees with the plan. "Kamran and I have a plan too in dealing with an ambush. Vi'lea, your ice spells could make a great fire break against my pyromancy, so you could basically form a ring around three enemy and Kamran and I can burn the suckers. Silvan, Riekan, and Pepper can pick off the escapees, and if there's a few you can tame, Silvan, all the better for you. Thoughts?" (OOC: Hmmm, serves me right to pay attention to geography. I'm going to assume it's the small street so that Andreas can hear while still having his secret conversation with Silvan)
"Sounds like a reasonable plan," Riekan agrees. "My sword and Pepper's thunder gun can take care of any escapees." He then leans in to Lea's ear. "Of course, I'm anxious to see you in action, love." He whispers before giving a nibble on her earlobe.
(If you are all ready to set off on for the farm, please give me a rough idea of your marching order. Just something like "front, back, last, first" or whatever. Since you're in the forest as opposed to a narrow tunnel there could be more than one "first" or "last." ) Lea is going to be in the back, but not necessarily last.
