"Okay, okay, just don't hurt me.... I know of a room. Yes, ma'am, I do. He hangs around in what we call the Candy Gutters. Despite its name, it's a candy shop just by the market. Can't miss it, got a giant candy sign and everything." he said.



"Hah, now your speaking my language. You know... The offer still stands. Ditch your friends and be with kids that understand what your going through? Do you think this Compadres know what we go through everyday? No, they don't. We're like rats to everyone up top. You and I and those kids you healed, we're just rodents." he said.

"I mean, you're not really wrong... Anthi was kinda calling me a dog earlier... But Din told her off for it! And she, uh, kinda apologized? And if I walk with them, then maybe people will see me and they'll think, 'Egh, look at those silly kids running around!' instead of singling me out. And then maybe they'll get as used to scales as they are with skin? 'Sides, they're still my friends! I wanna enjoy the time I have with them before..." Jaffa stared away from Brussel for a moment, spying her reflection in a stray chunk of silver. She wanted to close her eyes to get away from it, but that didn't seem right... "before I grow out of it..."

Anthi beamed.

“There you go, Din.  Now what’s your plan… take out Darius before or after our Corsair meeting?  Oh, what’s your name again, kid?”

Brussel stared at Jaffa with sympathy,"We all grow up one day little lady... Fine, I won't keep mouthing off the same offer. I know your answer now. And it's your choice.... But know theirs always a place in the sewers for you. I'm sure the boys would like to have you around."

Jaffa smiled back at Brussel, eyes open steadily. "Thanks, Cool Hat Brussel. I appreciate it. They can be a lil' weird — and Anthi can be mean sometimes — but they're my friends too. And... I'll remember that. I know I'm gonna grow up first, so maybe... maybe when I'm too old for them, I'll come back here? And hopefully we can hang out sometimes before then too."

"Really now? Well, I definitely would love to have you here little lady. You give me and my lads a strange sort of cheer. Really brightens up the place." he said with a smile,"But I doubt that'll happen once you grow up, nah, something tells me your going to still hangout with those... Friends of yours. That's how much their friendship means to you, right?"

"I mean... I'd love to. I admit it." Her eyes trailed to the ceiling. "I want to be with them. But they're not gonna want me when I'm a grown-up, right? They're still gonna be kids for years and I'm gonna be... different."

"I guess that depends on when he goes to the candy store. After, probably." Din was still contemplating how to do the deed (not to mention IF he could do the deed) but the time for contemplation was over. It was time for action!

He liked action, of course. All this talking was giving him a headache.

"I think I'm going to wait until he comes out of the candy store, with his hands full, and drop on him from the roof. I can jump pretty far, thanks to... reasons."

He stopped short of telling the others about his feather-falling.

"Hehe, well your gonna to ask your friends about that Little Lady. For now, we've talk for awhile. It's about time we gather up with your friends. They must have a plan by now." Brussel said rather impatiently.

"So... we meet Darius, see if he has Sarah, rescue her... and take him out later?  Good.  He's probably going to demand some of this silver.  How about we take a sack of fake rocks?"

Anthi was now thinking about the actual meeting bit.  She also had her new 'spell' to deploy, should there be trouble.

"What's taking Jaffa so long?"

"Yeah, you're right." Jaffa massaged her face a little bit, just to get it back into a smile. "You're right! It's been a a bit. Let's go!" With that, she started off to head back to the planning room.

"Bobby... My name is Bobby." the kid suddenly spoke up,"Please don't tell Darius I tattled. All I wanted was to ride that pig like the girl promise." he said, again sniffling.

Brussel tips his hat,"Looks like you got all you need from the hostage. So what's your plan? If you need any of my boys, well, we'll try our best. But we ain't risking our scales for non-scalies. Hope you understand."

When asked about the plan, Anthi puffed herself up to look all important and masterminderly.

 “If we can get a sack and some ordinary rocks, we can pretend like we’ve got silver… just need a real piece for show.  Then we take Bobby to trade for Sarah… it should at least get us a meeting.  Maybe we can find out what this Darius plans.. and how enthusiastic his goons are.  Still unsure if Din wants to play leader or sneak around.  I’m capable of leading negotiations.  And we can use the hog to charge in, if things go bad.  We just need a rider.”

She beamed like it was the greatest plan ever.

"I could try to ride the cute piggie? I don't super want anyone to get hurt, but I've ridden this one before, at least!" Jaffa clicked her claws together. "But if we can actually get a deal to happen, what do the Emeralds get?" It didn't seem right for them to get nothing, what with Bobby being their hostage.

Anthi nodded along, liking the idea of Jaffa as the rider.

"Well, I heard something about the Emerald's turf being disrespected... so we can ask the Corsairs to back off.  It'll probably end in a fight, we just need to get Sarah first.  Until the Corsairs know that we can best them, they won't take us seriously.  Boys will be boys, hehe."

She looked around to see if anybody else wanted to add something to the plan.

Brussel tips his hat,"I like this plan so far. I will of course join you in negotiations. Can't be legit if the leader of a gang ain't present, otherwise I might be called a coward. Sides, I still don't trust you folk, not yet anyway." he said, staring at you warily.

"No offense taken, Brussel!" Jaffa wanted to make sure she cut in before anyone actually had a chance to be offended. It was maybe a little manipulative, but her friends would probably speak up if they disagreed strongly enough. "Our last adventure involved lying to pirates about treasure, so we already have a track record of being untrustable." It was, after all, important to be honest about these things.

"Telling them that we can't be trusted won't make them trust us," Dinkar grumbled quietly. He couldn't help but smile, though.

"Yeah, humies got a point their little lady. Though you do get a pass, I trust you completely." he said, patting Jaffa's back. Then he turns to you,"But I'm keeping my eyes on you guys. Let's go and start off this plan already."

"I, uh, suppose that's fair." Jaffa still held out some hope that Brussel might come around to trust and even befriend her other friends, but they were probably right. Maybe it wasn't good to be honest all the time? "But yeah! Let's do the plan deal thingie! I can't wait to see Sarah again! It's been so long."

"Then we are agreed."

Anthi went about preparing a sack of fake silver.  And there was also the matter of bringing some extra muscle to the meet.

"I call thee forth... Nightbear!"

After some fancy gesturing and dropping one of her toys upon the ground (a roughed up teddy from Daddy), it 'magically' grew in size to that of a small Kid.  The sinister looking bear surveyed the area and then bowed to Anthi.  Apparently after meeting the witch (and taking a liking to her minions), 'someone' had been studying.

"Woah, uhm, that is... That's impressive. Doll face is a magician, woah." Brussel said in shock, but then shakes his head,"Alright, let's get this show rolling." he said, leading you to the Candy Gutters where you suspect the leader of the Corsairs resides.

Someone roll a travel Anywhere just to see if things go... Well

Having watched Din usually lead the party, this time Anthi had a go.

Beginner’s luck?


ooc:   00:42, Today: Anthielle rolled 8 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,6.  Insightful

You head to Candy Gutters without facing any hectic problems or such. Once you do you reach the place, you find it to be a ramshackle shop, but the glass window showcases that the owner was no joke. His candies looked almost like jewelry, to a kid anyways, they look absolutely delectable and sweet. They even got caramel apples, the Golden Apple of apples.

However, you realized the Corsairs had a guard in place in case anyone comes to their hideout. But it turns out this guard is someone you know.

Sarah lazily sleeps next to a lamp post. A half eaten caramel apple stuck to her cheek and her dress's pocket was filled to the brim with sugar and candies. Looks like your friend had a bit of a splurge in the candy shop.