I was rather uncomfortable as we got a mixture of looks from the locals. Some seemed rather suspicious of a Drake following a rag-tag group of adventurers, others were likely more concerned about the state of their stronghold following the recent migration of our villagers. Probably because we'd be nomads settling in their city, offering little considering the task we had at hand - don't stop the dust, don't have a place to stay. It was definitely weird having the world look down at us as if we were different from the others, when in reality we were probably just another group of blokes with weapons and spells.

We passed through a brief crowd of carts and odd travellers. They looked full of annoyed and concerned passengers (our villagers actually), rails buckling under the weight of old bags and square-shaped packages. Presumably these guys were paranoid of the grey dust slowly besetting the stronghold, convinced they had to leave and try to outrun the dust. Where would they go? How should I know, I'm just a gambler. Either way, they galloped off to the sounds of cart wheels rattling against the cobblestone roads, laid by ancient humans for all to use. Our party passed through where the cart used to block, striding towards the concerned dragon mother on the other side. She seemed to have abnormally short claws, possibly chewed off now that I think about it. "Hey, lady!"

I raised an eyebrow at the dragon's frustrations as she lashed out towards Robert, almost mad from the loss of her baby. I didn't expect such as response from what was once thought to be a wise race. Oh well, there are always those weird ones. "..." I stayed silent as Dorisma glared and placed the egg on its side. Deravan tried to calm the dragon down, but it seemed as if she was already beginning to settle down upon the sight of her egg. "Lady, we saved your egg and your precious child. I'd like to imply some sort of reward or payment."

The dragon, once asked about a reward starts stuttering, nervous again. "I, um, oh, um... I... suppose... say, drake, do you have any way of healing your party? I could teach you some form of healing magic, as for the rest of you... I hope that this gem will do, as a reward," she then tosses a rather sizable ruby at Dorisma, apparently knowing that she'd have an easier time carrying it. I was slightly annoyed, but relieved that we finally finished this mission. I then overheard what Trey said, and while I planned to ditch the princess in this town, it seems as if plans conspired against me. He was right, though, it was certainly better to stay a night here, in this dragon stronghold, rather than out in the dust where the very least that could happen to us while we slept would be zombies attacking us. "While I would enjoy the silence of ditching the princess... Trey has a point. We should stay at the inn, or, AN inn, and do the whole dust thing tomorrow," I then headed towards the inn, however, I must have been more tired than I thought, as I fell on my face while trying to walk away. This day must have been exhausting, somehow... oh, wait, never mind, I remember how... I fought a dragon, a group of humans, and a pair of oddly strong wolves. Thank goodness I didn't have to do this alone... I don't think I'd be able to, well, save for the dragon, but I had a plan for that one. I thought as I got back up, and tried to head to the inn, again. Unfortunately, my horrible sense of direction kicked in again, and I wound up walking in a giant circle, ending up in the back of the group, just like last time. "Ah, forget it... I'm too tired for leading right now. Anyone else got good enough direction to lead? 'Cause I don't," I end up saying in a tired, almost slurring voice.

Robert agreed that they should get some rest before going back out, but also pointed out that they could ditch the princess.
"If it makes you feel any better, Robert, we might have another opportunity to leave her behind later on." Trey said. "If we're lucky, we might be able to do so right after we're finished our next mission."

Once again, Robert tried to lead the way, and only ended up going in a circle.
"I think I saw an inn at one point while I was flying between the two groups." Trey said, flying into the air to get a better view of the stronghold. It didn't take him long to spot it, since it wasn't too far away. "It's over here!" He shouted down to the rest of the group as he began to lead the way.

Dorisma examined the jewel. Shiny. She'd probably pawn it off later. A good enough reward since she'd really done nothing but carry that fat egg. A night of sleep would do them well before dealing with the rest of the dust issue. Though there was the small matter of payment. The jewel would doubtless do, though perhaps they should see if they could weasel a night of rest out of the dragon. However Dorisma for one, had no intent on leading the effort to mooch off of someone. It seemed the flying one, Trey, had found the inn. Without a word Dorisma began walking towards the yelling, gesturing, bird. It had been a rather long day after all.

Deravan looked at the jewel that was given to them. At least that might actually give a couple of coins to the group, enough for a night at an inn at least. He moved as he then saw Trey point towards an inn. Rest... that would be really good for the group.
"Lets go sleep then. With how this day went... the sooner we rest, the better." he says before moving towards the inn that Trey had pointed out. Saving the egg from that dragon, seeing Robert actually take on a dragon one on one.... And possibly also being able to ditch the princess? Well, this day did go quite well at least.

I looked around my party members but it seemed as if we could always do with more healers. Min-max, no one dying 'cause healing everywhere, that sort of thing. "Alright lady, I guess that works for me." I told her, stepping closer and feeling somewhat intimidated by her size. She chucked a sparkling ruby across to Dorisma in the meantime as I stood in front of the dragon, off-side as to avoid being strangely formal. "While my friends walk off, I guess you could teach me a trick about dragon magic or two." I watched as Robert somehow walked in a circle back towards us, as if he was missing peripheral vision and thought he was in a desert. I smirked and chuckled, joking about Robert's lack of bearings before turning back towards the dragon lady. She seemed nice enough, assuming the fewer horns meant less hostile stance and reptilians didn't always look hungry.

[Robert]

I followed Trey all the way to the inn, trying to make sure I didn't stumble over anything on my way. Backstabs, as quiet as ever, followed for a moment before heading back for some odd reason. Maybe she was going to try to talk the dragon out of more of her treasure as payment for her egg. I didn't see too much of the city on my way to the inn, mainly because I was focused on following my teammate, so it all just sort of looked blurry to me. Soon enough, we finally made it back to the inn. I opened the door, and the first thing I saw was the princess... who unfortunately saw me, and the rest of my team almost as quickly. "THERE you are. So, took you all day to find that egg, huh? Guess hide and seek isn't your strong suit, is it?" It hasn't even been two minutes, and she's already criticizing the group. If we're not even heading to the kingdom of Torrentia, her home, then WHY is she still following us around? I asked myself as I just nodded at her continued criticism towards... probably everyone at this point. I then stumbled my way over to the barkeeper, and asked "How much for a room, good sir... and do you take payment in the form of giant ruby?" He was about to answer that, however, Backstabs interrupted and handed him some coins, which... was just enough for five rooms at this place. The perfect amount, considering the following: We didn't care whether or not the princess had a place to sleep, and she could probably pay for herself, as she's been shown to have a lot of money that... she only likes to spend on herself for some reason.

---

[Backstabs]

Robert wandered around in a circle, and the dragon gave us payment... or, at least a giant gem that's probably worth more money than I've ever had in my life. Dorisma caught it as the dragon just sort of chucked it at her, and the group was off to find an inn... this time with Trey following. I then got an idea... maybe I could convince the dragon to pay us enough for one night at the inn, so, after blindly following for a moment, I decided to sneak away from the group, and back to the dragon, who seemed to be teaching Miles something. "Very well... I suppose I could teach you the dragon's prayer. Many a drake before you has learned this, though, they usually learn it from a priest... say... do you speak draconic, young one? The prayer, itself is in that language," I listened in as the dragon started speaking in its own language... a language I couldn't ever hope to understand, let alone speak properly. I nearly fell asleep waiting until they were finished, but, once they were, I finally asked "So... miss dragon, would you mind also paying for our stay at your inn? I feel like we deserve it after saving your child from certain doom," she looked between myself and Miles, and seemed oddly nervous, but, thankfully, complied by handing us a bag of coins... probably just enough for our party to stay at the inn. "Thanks... I assume this will be enough, right?" she nodded, and I headed off towards the inn that Trey spotted. It wasn't a very long walk, and it was easy enough to tell where it was from here, so I made it there in what might be record time for our kobold leader... speaking of whom, he seemed to be talking to the innkeeper, and trying to negotiate some sort of price involving the giant ruby that Dorisma had. I simply walked up to the innkeeper, and handed him all the coins from that bag, and he handed me five keys, which I passed around to everyone before heading to my room, and passing out.

Dorisma snorted and grabbed the key, heading upstairs to where the rooms where, and somehow finding her room on the first go. Which was rather lucky considering she'd guessed randomly. Tomorrow they could deal with the rest of the gray stuff and whatever else these dragons wanted. Probably would ask them to do the cooking and cleaning if they thought they could get away with it. Somehow the princess had managed to find them again on top of it all. If she kept them awake Dorisma would find a way to shut her up. In the meantime she lay on the slightly oversized bed and tried to get some sleep. Dorisma had a feeling she would need all the sleep she could get in the upcoming days.

Derevan was surprised a bit when Backstab arrived and then gave the money for all the group. She probably got that dragon to give them money... or she stole from someone and they didn't notice. Anyway, he was happy to actually have a room to go sleep now. He smiled at Backstab.
"Thanks." he says to her before heading to his room and then getting into his own bed, going to sleep right there and now. Tomorrow was probably going to be a big day, and for once the group didn't need to have guards for their room.... Unless some dang bandits arrive in their room and bust in, but that would probably alert everyone in the building and have some reactions. He just went to sleep peacefully for once... It felt good

Trey sighed loudly when the princess showed up. He was starting to think that she'd gotten lost somewhere in the stronghold, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Hopefully she wouldn't be going with them on their mission tomorrow. The dust was already dangerous enough when they weren't being distracted by the princess' constant complaining.

Backstabs seemed to have gotten money from somewhere. Trey wasn't sure where she got it, and frankly, he didn't care, as long as they had the money to pay for their rooms. Trey took one of the keys that were given to them, and headed up to his room. He would have to get a good night's sleep in order to be prepared for tomorrow.

I kept one of the keys, and headed up to the room number that matched the one on the key. It was dark inside, and I was exhausted. The first thing I did was fall asleep on the giant-sized bed, and drift into a dream where I was on some sort of huge adventure... that didn't include the princess. I made sure to lock the door to my room before falling asleep just to make sure she couldn't get in here, then again, she's been through much worse than a locked door, and for all I knew, her shoes had some sort of instant lock-picking enchantment on them. I wasn't too worried from that thought, thankfully, and the next day came with me waking up as soon as I noticed the light entering my room. Looking around, the bed's sheets, the curtains, and the rug in the middle of the room seemed to share the exact same design. They were all red, with gold on the outer parts of it. I looked to my left, and noticed a plate with some sort of strange cactus-based food. Thankfully, the needles have been pulled out of the cut cactus, which was now acting as a bowl for some sort of soup. Forgetting the fact that there was a spoon on the plate, I drank the whole thing in one gulp, and noticed just how sweet and sugary it was. That soup seemed to help me wake up, and I ran back down, hoping that the princess wasn't there, but... somehow... she woke up before me, and was already waiting at the entrance, complaining about the breakfast being "Too spicy" and about us being "Lazy". Great... looks like we'll have to get up in the middle of the night in order to ditch her... I thought as I went back inside, and waited for the rest of my team, hoping that she didn't see me, and would leave this place out of boredom before the others get here.

Dorisma's eye cracked open with the appearance of the sun. To her surprise someone had managed to sneak some food into her room, an odd watery thing, with a distinct lack of meat. Ah well food was food and Dorisma crunched on the plant bowl curiously and eagerly drained the liquid within. A little sweet for her tastes but good all the same. The slight heat of the drink indicated that it might've been intended to be a spicy drink but it tasted too weak for her. In a few more moments Dorisma had grabbed her key from beneath her pillow and exited her room. When she went downstairs the kobold was waiting already. Hm. It seemed he was waiting for the rest of them from his small darting glances towards the rooms. Dorisma leaned against the wall next to the exit with a small grunt and watched the occupants of the room lazily. They really needed to get a move on so they could deal with whatever that gray dust was.

By the time Trey woke up, there was already sunlight shining into the room. He took a quick look around, and noticed that someone had entered his room and left some kind of soup, in a bowl that appeared to be made out of a cactus. He tried to finish it as quickly as he possibly could, since the others were probably waiting for him at this point.

When Trey went downstairs, he saw Robert, Dorisma, and, unfortunately, the princess. It seemed like Deravan and Miles were still asleep at the moment.
"So, once everyone else is awake, we should head to the blacksmith." Trey said. "Our gear's probably ready at this point, and we're probably going to need it."

Oh bollocks, what did I do last night?

Let's see... hm... do forgive me, I have a rather bad headache and a sore neck. So, I was turning in a lost egg with a bunch of others, knives tucked away and pack of cards slipped into my chest-pocket. There was a dragon with an oddly motherly tone and figure, taking in the egg and giving us a token or gem or something as a sign of gratitude. My group walked off towards the local inn, intent on retrieving their gear for tomorrow with a sense of accomplishment and pride. Though, I remained behind for some additional reward. I remember some chanting and all, how I was being taught some old Draconian magic. "I'm not really familiar with the language, no." That was what I said, but she still insisted on getting me rolling my tongue and clenching my teeth. Bugger, I remember a few tones and a sheet of paper that she handed to me, now scrunched and lying in my closed palm.

Let's fast forward to now. I'm sitting in a dark alleyway, head against wall. I have a little bit of stale blood that's stuck on my scales, able to taste as it came from my mouth. My thick clothes are somewhat damp and wrapped tightly around myself. What sort of thing did I do? Looks as if I'm destined to be some shark of cards, rather than merchant of death. Anything over needless violence though, I just cared for cash. Maybe that's what gotten me lying in a ditch.

Let's go to after having the lady teach me an unfamiliar language. I thanked her for the potentially potent spell (we were out of healers), she went on her way with egg cradled within her arms. I looked back towards my friends, now far away and blending in with the main crowd at the inn. I'd imagine they'd forgotten about me, but it was likely that they thought I could walk my way back to the inn.

Yeah, that's where things start to get rather blurry. My headache doesn't help, and may have contributed to the effects of memory loss. There was... a kid. Yeah, a Kobold kid out in the middle of the street. Hhe seemed to have followed the rest of the village to the Stronghold, but he looked lost and unaware of his surroundings. Heck, you could tell by the rags wrapped around his waist that he was pretty much homeless and without anyone else in the world. Kobold usually had family values (my dad being an exception), but we were also nomads - orphans weren't uncommon after large-scale movements. As the night went darker and the streets quieter, I redirected my route away from the inn and towards the kid, who was a couple of buildings away being illuminated by lanterns on the wall. If he had parents, they wouldn't let him be wandering around in this place dead of night.

By the time I got to the kid, the only things remaining were ourselves and a bunch of carts in the middle of the night. It seemed as if the dragons had their own places to sleep and relax in, and this place was originally reserved for Drakes. Emphasis on ORIGINALLY. Whole street looked largely abandoned already as everyone went out of their way to avoid a confrontation with one-another.

Anyway... from what I can remember, the kid looked like a mess. Reminded me of myself, actually. Something was off about him as he kept looking down, likely from having nothing to look forward to. As I got closer to him, he shifted a little and eventually looked up at me. He seemed a bit startled as I reached in my pockets, pulling out a pack of cards and letting the kid calm down. "Hey. Where are your parents?" I asked, shuffling them around as the kid continued clutching his legs and internally screaming. He certainly looked like it, poor thing. A few seconds pass and I realise the kid can't even speak, eventually bobbing his head down and sighing. I looked around to see if this was some of kind, noting a lack of presence between the trees and broken marble pieces of the other side of the road. "Hey, kid." I bent down to the kid's level, a little confused at my sense of compassion towards him. "You alright? What's your name?"

A few minutes pass as I sit by him, eventually stopping with the card shuffling. Streets were quiet with crickets beating their legs or wings or whatever, just the pair of us being illuminated by the fire of oil. I wanted to press on with questions, but he didn't seem keen on answering. In fact, I realised he was a mute, too scared by whatever to even speak to me. Occasionally he looked onto me and eventually let his legs out, revealing a rather badly busted face and look of famine. The kid was too young for whatever happened to him. He was shaking and seemed to be ready to pounce away, wiping dry tears away and looking into the dark. "Drake did this to you?" He nodded his head and clutched his arms as I spoke for the first time in the night. I think he tried to point at me but just shifted a bit away from me, revealing a small bloodied dagger under where he was sitting. He looked at me dead in the eyes, terrified as I just stared and looked away, half-expecting him to run.

Rather... ow, my head. Anyway, he started to cry, letting out a whimper as his face turned into the rainy season. "Hey, knock it off. You're obviously safer now." I gave a smile, but I was worried about his state of health and mind. He rubbed his eyes and steered his noggin towards at the pack of cards in my hand, opening an opportunity to cheer him up. Now, I get I have a rather bad headache at the moment, but I can safely say that if you thought I was going to choke him out of any remaining cash left, then you're a bit of a pessimistic jerk. I'd probably do it off regular homeless, but not kids like him. This lad looked as if he survived a bloody war.

So, I just started shuffling my cards and put away half the deck, spinning a few around my fingers and through sleeves. Eventually I came up with five cards towards the kid, who seemed confused as he looked back and forth between the cards on my palm and my Draconian face. "Pick a card, kid. I promise you it's not a trick." The Kobold kid slowly but steadily placed his finger in the middle of the little deck I was hiding from him, pulling out a card which I guessed was three of spades. "Three of spades?" He wagged the card towards me, revealing a single heart. I was a little defeated but found it cute for him to get that particular card, as well as getting him smile for the first time I saw him. "Oh well. You can keep it, just don't fold it." I said to him, proud of the fact I was helping out a street urchin like myself.

And... I can't actually remember what came next. He... he bolted off. Stood up, leaped and ran. Left with his dagger remaining by my hand. I stood up as well and called for the kid in the night, while I turned around to see two men in layered clothing walking towards the child's direction. Seemed as if the child was running away from those trolls.

You know, the more I think about it, the more likely it is that I just hit my head and dreamed that someone was looking out for me when I started on the streets. I mean, a kid with a dagger? Helped by a guy with a bunch of cards? Running away from the very trolls that kidnapped him?

Regardless, it's a tale to be told, truth or not. Those trolls looked like scrawny backstabbers, but I couldn't resist following them. A few steps forward and I had one troll looking in my direction, confused as to why there was a seemingly well-dressed Drake in the middle of the night. "Mate, have you seen a kid around here? He's armed and got a knife." I noticed the slash wound on his neck, barely patched up with string and sewing needle. Seemed more likely by the second they were the kid's holders.

"Yeah, sure I did. He's gone off to 'bugger-off-and-die' street." To be honest, I didn't expect a fight. More importantly, I didn't even know I blurted that out loud. I didn't really know what happened, but I knew when I woke up I had won somewhat. There was one goblin under a stack of marble and another one just lying on the floor. I smirked as I helped the kid get away - even if he wasn't an angel, he didn't exactly deserve a bashed face and terror. I got up, avoiding the pair of unconscious trolls (as in I heard them groaning, forcing me to start running out the alley) and reaching rising daylight on the streets. I could see my party members grouping inside the inn from the windows, whilst I was walking and passing by many different people. I felt better after the events of last night, opening and closing the door to the inn with a bruised smile.

I think I recalled seeing the kid swiping a few coins with the card I gave out earlier, somewhere in the distance. Oh well, that's his fantasy he wants to live, I guess.

Deravan woke up the next day, feeling refreshed now. At least he had a good night sleep, although he had some strange dreams of shadows in the darkness stalking him. He didn't know what that meant. He sighed as he went downstairs, a bit sleepy. He went to eat breakfast with the group... but at the first bite he stopped... and then starting to hyperventilate. He then took a glass of water and then drank half of it. He stared at the food.
"What is this... food to burn your tongue off?" he said, breathing deeply right now. He just went for the less spicy part of the food and finish his part, not wanting to burn his tongue off finishing the breakfast. He also heard the princess complain also while eating. Well... she was right about it being too spicy at least.
"I am guessing the weapons we wanted made are ready..." he then says to the group.

Everyone gathered, with Deravan also complaining about the spiciness of the food. "I just thought it was a sweet, sugary soup, of sorts," I commented, noting that Backstabs was also mad about the food. It seemed like only Trey and Dorisma were on my side here, as I didn't hear much about the food from them. Deravan mentioned that our weapons might be ready, and Dorisma looked a little impatient, probably because of the princess' constant complaints "You guys are a HORRIBLE adventuring team, I mean, look, you've already lost a teammate, and we're in a city! A SAFE PLACE! WHERE MONSTERS AREN'T GOING TO ATTACK YOU!" I tuned her out after that, but I can only assume she didn't stop even after we left the inn. I tried to remember where the blacksmith was... and just ended up lost, and continually asking others where I could find the blacksmith... unfortunately, nobody seemed to want to help me out, and I ended up back at the inn... somehow. "Huh? I could have sworn I was going in a straight line..." I said to my team, with the princess commenting "Yeah, straight... about as straight as a circle," I ignored her, and looked up at Trey "Trey... would you mind leading us to the blacksmith? I'm asking because I can't find buildings, let alone lead others to them at all," The princess laughed, and added "Some leader you are... can't even lead. I mean, why does anyone even consider you the leader, huh? 'Cause you're one of those generalists? the 'jack of all trades'? That's funny if that's true," before I could respond to her, I noticed Miles, nearby. "Hey, Miles... sorry that you didn't make it to the inn... how'd that training go?" I was just asking him to change the subject, because I didn't really appreciate talking to the princess, in general.

Dorisma grunted. The kobold was competent in battle but little else it seemed. Dorisma already had her 'weapon' persay, so she didn't need to go to the blacksmith. She was tempted to leave and find the source of the gray dust herself but didn't want to leave her allies helpless. Sighing softly to herself Dorisma trudged off to the blacksmith, she at least rememberd where it was, she'd gotten a good idea of the city's layout after all that searching. In hardly any time at all Dorisma found the building and leaned agains the wall, jerking one thumb towards the entrance in an obvious signal. 'Get in and get out'. She wondered why the princess thought the kobold was considered the leader, he hardly lead them anywhere and was usually hiding in the back of the fight. Odd things humans. She wondered why none of the dragons had killed her yet. Perhaps her magic could stop even dragons.

Deravan just fallowed and looked more and more annoyed at the princess. He look at her after each comment, and then breath deeply.
"Hes doing the best he can! Not his fault he gets lost like this! Cut him some slack geez! If your wondering why everyone in the group dislikes you, it's cause of how high and mighty you think you are, being untouchable and all! Can't you just stop with your comments like this and maybe be nicer! That would be a first!" he then says to her, annoyed like heck.
"Commenting on every fault that someone has, not seeing the good things they have! No wonder no one else came to save you in that cave before! They probably would have though you would have commented with them the same way as with us!" he then says. He then breath deeply, starting to calm down. He shook his head as he turn and then move towards Robert and Miles, grumbling.
"I wish we had some kind of smoke bomb or something to freaken escape her and get away... Or at least hit her for just a bit of damage so that she would be scared and possibly run away." he then says.

After another unsuccessful attempt at leading the group, Robert asked Trey to lead them to the blacksmith.
"Alright. Follow me." Trey said. He then noticed that Dorisma had already started heading int the direction of the blacksmith. "Oh...follow Dorisma, then, I guess."

When they arrived, Dorisma waited outside, telling them to "Get in and get out". Trey entered, and approached the Dragon working at the forge.
"Hello." He said. "We're here to pick up the weapons we bought yesterday."

I tilted my head somewhat and began scratching the edge of my new horns, once seeing that damned princess squealing all about adventuring and such. It took a while for everyone to notice, but I didn't mind as I leaned on the doorway. Somehow, Robert actually managed to just walk past me like he didn't know I existed, before walking all the way back through various arrangements of market stalls to the door, just to acknowledge my appearance. Again, I didn't mind, snickering but keeping a straight face afterwards. I didn't exactly get the best sleep last night, what with engaging in a fight and waking up in an alley. You would think I'd be used to sleeping in those, but that really wasn't the case. "Took all night. Got drunk. Punched someone, the end." I responded, not really willing to speak about last night.