Blood from Stone [AU]

[Isabela]

"Let's not tell the whole city that," smirks Isabela, her hand firmly entwined in Zevran's. Proud of you, kitten, she doesn't say, as she watches the girl dance her way backward through the streets. "You heading to Cattown?"

[Tethras Clan]

Zevra grins broadly. "We should have taken on... apprentices? Sidekicks? Minions," he decides with a wink, "ages again. Utterly delightful." Raising his voice so Ari can hear, he continues, "we're for the Shiniest of Cats. I have a reservation with Lux and Nox and their so very clever hands." That last fight with those teleporting spiders played merry hell with my back. A massage sounds like Ciren's own gift right now.

[GamesMaster]

"No, I'll come with to the Cat," she decides, glancing up at the sky. I'll need to spend time there eventually, but I'm in no hurry to be branded a traitor.

[Jassinth]

Their other companion is noticeably less excited about being in the city. Overwhelmed would be a much more accurate description. And in turns horrified and fascinated. "But how do they find anything?" he mutters to himself for the tenth time in the last ten minutes. There's a clatter as a wagon, overloaded, bursts a rail and spills its load of raw ores onto the cobblestone. The merikos drow, covered in a ranger's cloak and his hair braided with colorful ribbons, nearly scales a nearby wall before his brain catches up to the cause of the noise.

[GamesMaster]

"By smell," chirps Ari, having had no end of fun teasing the boy. 

[Tethras Clan]

"By rumor and address," Zevran adds a touch more helpfully. "There are people that specialize in such things, much like there are those that earn a living stalking certain beast or plant or guiding people to a certain location."

[GamesMaster]

"Whatever," says Ari impatiently. "Come on, let's get going. I can't wait to rub it in Bri's face."

[Tethras Clan]

Zevran snickers. "Ah yes, the adventurer's motto," he says, grinning. "Let us be off!"

[Jassinth]

"Place stinks," Jass mutters to himself, not realizing how lucky he is that his first city-state is Nyra and not one of the others. Only Draslina comes close to the cleanliness and, bluntly, lack of reek. "Carver so owes me for coming here..."

[GamesMaster]

The loss of Zevran and Isabela had hurt the Shiny Cat's pocketbooks, but less than one would assume; always prepared for the worst, Varric had two or three backup plans when they announced they were leaving on their adventure. Currently, the posters tacked up around Coalside featured Nox and Lux, the "delectable multitalented twins", encouraging the customer to "experience heaven's wonders and hell's fires all at once". To draw in a higher caliber crowd, the place had begun putting on short plays and acts in the evenings, with a much lower price of admission; there wasn't much room, but they'd managed to convert the front parlor to a performance space, leaving the back parlor for more intimate encounters and the choosing of a whore for the evening.

The lucky cats out front had been expanded into a full developed front, complete with a garden of small stunted trees trimmed to lewd shapes and a little koi pond with a bench where some of the catfolk could sit, dressed in luxurious robes, to entice customers from the street. Passing under the faux archway, the group slips past the bouncers to enter the performance space, which is already getting set up for the evening. A notice posted on the front door promises a series of exotic dances for the evening, and they spy Miki helping set up a sturdy pole in the middle of the performance area to assist with this.

"Miki!" calls Ari, waving a handkerchief.

Miki narrows his eyes, but his greeting sounds warm enough: "Arius! Long time not see. Adventure-cat-cat now?"

"Adventure-cat-cat," she confirms. "Started working here?"

"No," he says, amiably, his tail whipping a bit. "Just make drinks."

[Jassinth]

"Carver worked here?" Jass asks Zevran with a mixture of interest and doubt. The older merikos drow nods, keeping the amusement off his face as he does so. "Huh." I... Play it cool, Jass. If he's worked here, even just as a guard, he's gotta be cool with... things. And... and... well, he's single now. So... 

[GamesMaster]

"Friends with Car?" asks Miki, brightening a bit, his ear twitching in Jass' direction. "Half off! Bandanna discount!"

[Jassinth]

"Ah, yes- oh! You're one of his old gang!" Jass says brightly. Catfolk, male and younger than me so... "Are you Nikolas or Mikeal?"

[GamesMaster]

"Mikael," says Miki with a bow. "Bomb-cat-cat don't come 'round here." 

[Jassinth]

What cat-cat? Okay, making a note of that. "Well met, Mikeal of the Red Bandanas. I am Jassinth of the Oak, apprentice ranger on the Leaf Path," he bows back. "Might I ask if Carver is around tonight?"