RP:Not All Razurath, But Yes, All Boys

Summary:

While enjoying the various brews of the Golden Sa'vre, Karasu reflects on whether blindly killing the Razurath during her first battle was the right decision. Scandal, Zahrani, Mais, and Quintessa all weigh in. Scandal makes an off-hand comment that completely derails the conversation from ethical choices that have to be made in war to... making nests? Karasu's crush is revealed, and Quintessa considers joining a guild!

Part of the Saurian Onslaught Arc

[This is a side story, and not part of the main arc.]

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The Golden Sa'vre

Following along the narrow trail, weaving its way this and that through the dense forest all around, one would come upon a clearing. A building, though perhaps slightly ramshackle, resides as silent vigil over the clearing and the forest which surrounds. Tendrils of smoke rise into the air via multiple chimneys, denoting the possibility someone is home -- though upon closer inspection, a sign hangs swinging with the wind which reads, ‘The Golden Sa‘vre’. The door is unlocked. Inside is a quaint serving area scattered with a few tables and chairs, many of which are already occupied by patrons. Along one wall resides a bar, racks of drinks hanging behind. Stairs on the opposite wall lead up to a loft with three doors -- rooms for rent, modest but accommodating. Back in the main room, a hip-high door is visible beneath the stairs; the entrance to the kitchen. The patrons gathered here or there don’t seem to pay much attention to any newcomers, and continue about their games or conversations with little curiosity. Many of them seem content to sit around just beneath the loft, where a roaring fire burns like a beacon of hope in the otherwise drab tavern. A myriad of decorations, in an earnest attempt to brighten up the place, are scattered along the walls. Their themes are hunting and planting and the woods, elven heritage through and through. The owner of the tavern does not make themselves known to you, nor would the barkeep lend aid to any query regarding that matter, but a drink and a meal is happily obliged. All are welcome.

Scandal was feeling adventurous today so he figured he make use of an establishment he had so often seen but never entered, not caring how he looked he had slipped in as a eight foot tall sixteen foot tall dragon, black scaled red underbellied and but with smooth scales, frankly he didn’t care how he looked or how people saw him anymore so he took a corner of a room and leaned his forearms on a table and held a menu, his expressive eyes gazing over the menu, as he casually puffed out smoke from a larketian cigar.

Karasu was surprisingly not in her battle armor today. Anyone would have to do a double-take at the feline, clad in a sleeveless tunic and shorts while she pounded pints of dwarven ale. "Can heroes really take lives? Even if its war? I 'unno anymore." She lamented to no one in particular.

Zahrani wanders into the establishment that she had also never entered, despite taking this route to visit Talyara many times. Those were good memories; and also intense memories. The feline wears her more elf-like appearance today, cyan eyes contrasting sharply with dark brown skin and dreadlocked hair. She wears a loose-fitting summer garb, a sleeveless shirt with blue and yellow geometric patterns, earth-toned pants made of a sturdy fabric and hiking boots. She offers a wave to the eight-foot-tall-sixteen-foot-tall dragon, while a few patrons not-so-subtly request to-go containers for their food so they could leave quickly. Rani is guided to a seat nearby, where she orders a glass of iced tea.

Mais stumbles quietly into the little cottage his eyes first catch that of mixed dragon. A curl appearing in the corner of his lips watching the others try to politely make their exits. The pseudo-drow shrugs walks up to the bar next to Zahrani holding up two fingers. "Double whiskey neat".

Zahrani grabs her glass of tea and takes a seat over by Karasu, the feline's divine aura brushing against the smaller spell-blade. The panther's voice is calm as she hears the half-feline's question, before asking, "First kill, dear?" There is not a trace of judgment in the paladin's face.

Scandal is quick to wave his foreclaw an ole friends way, as well as to former combatant, his long stretching up and above over his menu towards the kitchen, causing a few patrons concern only for him to turn and say, “honestly am i really the strangest thing you’ve seen?” He said perking a brow. “Rani good to see you, and Kara, well I suppose it depends upon whether they had a weapon in hand.”

Quintessa slipped into this place she'd never been before. She didn't know what a Sa'vre was, much less what it would look like made of gold, but the young hexblade was in a curious mood today. Dressed in a combination of dark robes and strange trinkets she had found around every corner of these lands the changeling found herself seated at the bar. Quick glances were given to all that were here today, but she hadn't yet decided who she would follow. After all, Quintessa lived by many mantras and today that mantra was 'If you see a stranger walking around, follow them.'

Karasu looks up at Zahrani, her face flushed from the drink. "The creatures invading from the west. I killed them without a second thought but... I'm sure they wanted to live too. Perhaps... perhaps they weren't truly evil. What right did I have to take their lives, Rani?" Her hazel eyes drift across the bar and a flash of recognition reaches her face when she sees Scandal. "Like when I fought that big lad over there. What if I killed him?" Of course, there's no way in this century or the next that she could ever take out Scandal, but still.

Mais sips at his drink, trying to hold back from a laugh. "You think they'd be crying over you if they had the chance to rip your throat out?"

Scandal turns his head towards the kitchen again and to the hiding staff, “ i will take my eggs scrambled with three dozen flapjacks and honey as opposed to syrup, and some of that apple cider.” He paused, and shook his head pulling his head back to his body and table, “ why does every one thing i eat humans” he groaned “ oh look a drow. And two people I don’t know.”

Zahrani nods to Scandal, before gently wrapping an around Karasu in a comforting hug, before asking, "Do you want to tell me what exactly happened when you encountered them?" The panther is not about to rush to judgment, though she certainly has her own opinions on when it's best to deploy violence in a given situation.

Scandal glances at the drow in regards to topic, “ as i recall only the deranged razurath use their teeth, and they never do mass burials, whats with that?” He shrugged returning to his menu.

Quintessa couldn't help but pay the most attention to Karasu and Zahrani. Were they talking about killing people? That was a conversation that for sure interested the hexblade at least enough to eavesdrop on them. "Cider sounds good," she said to herself, hearing it ordered somewhere else in the room. "Barkeep! I want a cider over here too."

Mais ' eyes trail to the other dragon in the room at the mention of eating humans. "Niido mindok tol jul taste fin pruzaan". He offers a shrug then returns back to his whiskey.

Karasu stiffens when she hears the laughing. Unfocused eyes search for the source of the noise. Ah, yes. The [redacted for age appropriate audiences]. "The Razurath are terrible creatures that would kill me without hesitation, but doing the same makes me no better than them, does it not?"

Zahrani shakes her head, "If someone seeks to harm you, preserving your own life does not make you 'just as bad'." The feline paladin genuinely hopes Karasu spends more time with Matriarch Roahin and their feline colony.

Quintessa turned around on her stool to but into this conversation. "If the Razurath are terrible creatures, why would anyone feel remorse for ridding the world of them?" She asked this question to the room, but her mixed matched eyes were locked on Karasu. "That seems like an act of good to me, to slay monsters. Doing good can never put you on the same level as someone or something that commits acts of evil."

Zahrani said to Karasu, "And the fact that you're asking yourself such questions definitely means you're not a bad person."

Karasu looks back down at the near-empty pint when everyone chimes in, her near-violet brows furrowed in question. "I suppose so. But still, they might not all mean harm. If we can save at least one civilian instead of assuming they're a soldier, that would be a win for justice."

Scandal sighed, “ when we encounter something new almost every action provokes fear and distrust, the unknown leaves us with the impression that all things unknown make the world wrong, so we seek to eliminate it, who knows what we could we have studied it or spoke.

Zahrani takes in Karasu's hope that there might be peaceful Razurath, the feline offering her a warm smile and saying, "That is a possibility. There are no 'monolithic' people in society, so if you wish to take such a risk for the possibility of justice, then that is your choice." The panther gently pats the spell-blade's back, "Just know that you're not alone."

Quintessa touched her bottom lip thoughtfully with her index finger as she listened to everybody weigh in on this issue. "I think you all are right. After all, it's the elites that pit us ordinary folk against one another. I think deep down all of us just want to live out lives in peace but the monarchs and warlords keep us fighting. Maybe if we kill the leader of the Razurath, they'd stop killing innocents."

Zahrani likes the way Quintessa thinks, the panther, like many of her people and followers of Cyris, being a low-key anarchist and all. She turns to the changeling and offers a grin and a nod.

Scandal said, "The question is: who is the leader?"

Karasu stares at Quintessa for a moment. For a moment, it seems like perhaps the changeling said the wrong thing,until the cat girl nearly leaps from her chair. "That's great! We should be focusing on Aetherclaw!" They already are, she just hasn't figured that out yet. Turning to Zahrani, she adds, "Yes, I'll do anything to see that justice is carried out, and I know I'm not alone, I have my friends!" That term is used loosely since Zahrani and Roahin are closer to parental figures.

Scandal said, "But is he the leader? Can it be confirmed?"

Zahrani said to Karasu, "I ran into that giant candy-cane back when the snow was still on the ground. That was before the blockade, as far as I know."

Karasu said to Scandal, "I-I don't know. When we do recon, he seems to be the one giving orders to everyone."

Scandal said to Zahrani, "You met? What was he like?"

Scandal said to Karasu, "Generals usually report to someone if there this big of an operation"

Quintessa gave a knowing smile to Zahrani before she reached back and took her cider in her hands. The hexblade was certainly an enemy of conformity and would take allies of any kind that would stand up against the Lords of the realm. She made a mental note that this Panther could before a useful ally one day. "Aetherclaw? The leader of the Razurath is called Aetherclaw?" She paused to take a long drink before slamming her mug on the bar. "Justice? The small folk won't know justice until our masters are dead. And I don't just mean for the Razurath. So long as Larket continues to imprison innocent spellcasters under the pretense that we are all witches, none of us are free. And this whole 'Freedom' tournament is just a lie to placate us!" Quintessa had gone full soapbox at this point.

Zahrani turns back to look at Karasu, grinning slightly at Quintessa going full soapbox. She'll neither encourage nor discourage the changeling at this point; she's a complete stranger, and the felines of the Isran Collective (her colony in Cenril) tend to play things close to the vest, so to speak. To Scandal, the paladin responds, "He was big, with red and white stripes. Claimed to be a traveling artist when I caught him stalking me." The panther's skeptical look made it clear how she felt about the Razurath's choice of spoken profession.

Karasu seems confused. "But if that is the highest authority on the ground level, shouldn't that be the person we assume to be in charge for now?"

Quintessa would return to the matter at hand for now but she was far from done sowing decent. Shaking her head she interjected with, "Somehow I don't feel like the leader of a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters would be a 'traveling artist'." She shrugged, "Unless you twist the meaning of 'art' to be murder or something. You could elevate anything to be an artform that way."

Scandal said, "just because we assume all structures function normally doesn’t always mean all structures function normally in a way it either clever or stupid or something that merely escapes the thought process due to lack of information"

Scandal said to Quintessa, "well spoken."

Quintessa said to Scandal, "Thanks! I've enjoyed your input as well."

Scandal said, "hmm if strategy were an art, clever way to put it, neither a lie and yet mostly truth"

Scandal said, "where is my food?” He puts fore claws on hips makes a disapproving face. “Y’all better not be cowering"

Zahrani said to Karasu, "I think what Scandal is getting at is: Aetherclaw may report to someone else, assuming they're organized like a conventional army."

Karasu scoffs. "The 'traveling artist' thing was obviously a lie!" Of course, she has no way of knowing this.

Quintessa said, "I would just like to point out that I really don't know what a Razurath is. I've never seen one, I just know that it's a pretty significant payday to bring one down. I'm at a loss for knowing how they function or even what they look like."

Scandal said to Zahrani, "then quin, “ well i dated one once before all this nonesense, hey I cannot help but be lonely. Um saurian like what would you say rani?"

Zahrani said to Quintessa, "They're large, intelligent, and scaly. Built similar to some of the Saurians you'll find in Venturil, which is the land they're currently occupying."

Zahrani raises a brow at Scandal, "I was wondering who those beings were that you had traveled with. I didn't know if they were the same species. What were they like?"

Karasu makes a face. "You dated a Razurath? Now I'm glad I tried to drown you in the duel."

Quintessa nodded slowly. "Okay, I've read about those Saurians but I didn't think they actually existed. I've never been out that far." The strange girl decided to keep quite for the moment. After all she was curious about the Razurath and wanted to know more.

Scandal said, "well they were exiles for one, namely because they actually wanted to worship some Lithrydel gods, they were not scaled, more like leathery or rubbery skin, same species but then she dod say razurath are odd as a species, they really fail to fit in a class of of anything but there own, like neither warm blooded or cold blooded more... like as if blood didn’t play a part in the way most life does, never taste that blood worst flavor ever, you won’t ever forget it if you try it, i still don’t drink water eight months after because that flavor returns yech! However, i will say i have never known a people so eager to adopt orphans, i guess strong parenting runs deep."

Scandal said to Karasu, "make nest with one, you’ll never know want."

Scandal chuckles.

Karasu said, "I don't plan on 'making nests' with anyone, thank you!"

Karasu blushes despite saying this.

Quintessa listened carefully but now she felt kind of bad for them. They didn't sound like monsters at all, yet people were out here hunting and killing them. She suddenly got the feeling that something bigger than all of this was going on, but she had no idea what it could be. "I... I think I'd like to meet one someday..." She timidly admitted.

Quintessa said, "Aw, 'make nest' is the cutest euphemism I've ever heard."

Scandal said, "well I don’t think my meal is coming.” He gets up from the table and moves to the door. “though if you want to meet one, try cenril, or gualon i think the pre war colonists settled there. Come to think of it, i hope someone can protect them, before they are all killed off, who knows maybe they would help."

Karasu whips her head around to pout at the changeling, her blush deepening. "Heroes don't make nests!"

Zahrani said to Karasu, "I mean, "making nest" is something anyone can do. Not something I'd rush into, personally."

Quintessa said to Karasu, "The heroes in my books 'make nests' all the time in my novels back home. Usually at the end when the kingdom is saved, the brave hero and the damsel 'make nest'. Quintessa thought for a moment, "Perhaps I shouldn't have been reading those kinds of books when I was seven..."

Karasu is embarrassingly frustrated as she protests, "B-but even if I wanted to, i-it wouldn't work out! He is--" Karasu freezes, and is beet red at this point. She's said too much. She needs to sober up, like, ten minutes ago. At least, her initial dilemma of moral objections is resolved. Despite being a good soldier, she still is, really, just a child. "HEY." The barkeeper jumps at the sudden shout. "Double espresso, now."

Zahrani shakes her head, grinning at the younger feline's flustered statement. At the request of a double-espresso, the paladin adds, "Your anxiety is going to go through the roof if you drink that." The panther offers her a sip of her iced tea; it still had caffeine, but not enough to fry nerves. "Also, anytime you want to tell me who "he" is, I'll listen. But I'm not the type to prod."

Quintessa leaned in to close to stare at Karasu, the biggest grin she could make stuck to her face. "Oooooh, I see." Quintessa giggled madly before spinning back around on her barstool, stopping only when her hand gripped her mug. "Listen to your friend," the changeling said, nodding in Rani's direction, "You shouldn't rush into 'making nests' with anyone, but that doesn't make you evil if you do. And it's not weird if you don't. I've never 'made nest' either."

Karasu chokes slightly on the iced tea while the mismatched eyes bore into her. "I don't want to rush into anything! I-I'm not going to pursue him at all!" Her eyes flick to Zahrani, and she lowers her head embarrassingly. "It would ruin the friendship we already have. I know this is little more than a burst of infatuation, it will pass."

Quintessa said to Karasu, "You think so? If I thought I couldn't be friends with someone because we 'made nest' I probably would have never climbed off the roost to start with."

Karasu stubbornly shakes her head. "It would be weird for me to even suggest such a thing! A dra-- a being who was probably alive when my grandparents were born would never look at me as an interest!" Suddenly overwhelmed again, she glances at the pitcher of dwarven ale.

Zahrani gently hugs the other feline, "It's okay to have feelings for someone. What you do with those feelings is more important. You gotta accept how you feel, even when it's uncomfortable or embarrassing." Advice that the paladin learned the hard way.

Karasu relaxes into Rani's side when they hug. Maybe it's all the ale, but for the first time in their meeting, Karasu lets out an appreciative purr. "You're too nice to me, Rani. All I ever do is complain." She jests.

Quintessa picked up her mug and took it over to where Karasu and Zahrani were sitting and joined with without invitation. "Hmm, that's a tough one," She said after taking a drink, "I'm not really into older men," The hexblade had barely seen her 17th name day. Most men were 'older' by her definition. "Yeah, your friend is probably right. No use beating yourself up over how you feel or making assumptions about things, good or bad."

Zahrani herself will be 30 around Yule season in Lithrydel. She's had more time to figure out what she prefers. Gender matters little for her; she mostly looks for emotional maturity when it comes to intimate partners. She sighs at Karasu beating herself up, "That's what family is for. There's a first time for every lesson, and being ashamed of your own feelings is something people should 'unlearn' more than they 'learn.'"

Karasu smiled when the changeling joined them. "I didn't even realize I had a type, but I suppose 'older men' has been the trend. Bah, who needs boys when you have good drinks!" She lifts the pitcher up in a mock toast. "Oh, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Karasu Tsuji of the Mage's Guild." She points to the pin on her tunic. "And this is Zahrani."

Quintessa smiled at the two, "It's so nice to meet you," She said, "I'm Quintessa! Although you can call me 'Quin', or 'Tess', or something. 'Quintessa' is a bit fancy for my tastes." She raised up her glass, "Yeah! Who needs boys?" Laughing at the mock toast, the changeling girl eyed the pin on her tunic. "Oh? They give you shiny things at the Mage's Guild? I've got to get in on that!"

Zahrani turns to face Quintessa once more. The feline has an androgynous look; and her casual clothing is currently more on the masculine side. She's built like someone who could parkour in platemail. With a smile, the feline says, "Nice to meet you, Quin." She raises her own glass, "Boys are overrated..." taking a sip of her tea. On the subject of Guilds, she adds, "I'm a paladin in the Devout's Guild, and I'm also a combat trainer for Adventurer's Guild, if either of those interest you."

Quintessa said to Zahrani, "I'm not much for the worship of gods and the like, but I have NEVER turned down the opportunity for adventure." The strange girl looked her over, taking note of her strong arms, "And I REALLY could use a combat trainer in my life."

Karasu grins with her elongated canines showing. "You might have to take a wild exam, but I'm sure Master Dyraxdiin will give you a shot." Her voice gets just a little bit softer and sweeter when she says this.

Zahrani glances at Karasu upon mentioning the leader of the Mage's Guild. The panther now has a good idea which older person she's referring to. Turning back to Quintessa with a grin, she adds, "Send a message to Meri, if you want to join. Then we can start training together."

Quintessa grinned at each of the two, looking back and forth as her excitement grew. "I'm sure whatever test Master Dyraxdiin has in store for me will be easily vanquished!" Her attention lingered on Rani a bit longer. "Meri, you said? I sure will! I really want to see what you can do with a weapon."