Malkai raised an eyebrow, not that anyone could see that behind his mask. For a bedroll it was very loaded with enchantments. Or perhaps it's not actually enchantment, but simply master craftsmenship? The two can often be mistaken. Malkai had to see for himself weather she truly brought a magical bedroll or just got scammed into paying for a really good one. He followed her to the lean-to, peeking his head around to look at her bedroll. "Sure. I don't believe that you'd actually go out of your way to buy something so... Frivolous." Malkai was just being sarcastic in a sense, unaware of Alyssa's reasons for buying such a thing. "I'd settle for a blanket and dry ground myself, but to each their own."

"Frivolus? Being well rested can be the difference between making it out alive, and almost making it out alive." She patted her bedroll affectionately. "While I can do with blankets and dry ground myself, that isn't always available. This ensures that no matter what I can sleep comfortably, whether in the cold desert night or in a thunderstorm."

"Not to mention the often understated morale factor." She grinned. "Happy adventurers are effective adventurers, and waking up dry and warm makes me happy, so therefore effective."

After Catarina finished setting up her campsight, she also got out of her armor, switching to more breathable silk and cloth. She would have wore her leather armor underneath all her heavy plate, but without magic she'd roast to death (And she was already pretty hot with her armor anyways). Without her armor making her look like a bulky onion, Catarina looked rather... Plain. A modest figure, though if she ever revealed her skin everyone would see that she's just as muscular than the orc, and much easier on the eyes. But that was hidden by her silken robes. And while she lacked any armor, she still took her bastard sword just out of habit.

She noticed Malkai and Alyssa talking so Catarina snuck on over. It sounded like Malkai wanted to see her bedroll, but that set off alarms in Catarina's head. On one hand it's not like Alyssa needed some knight protecting her honor. She's free to do whatever she likes, with whoever she likes... But Catarina wasn't exactly trustful of Malkai. Whatever his motives was Catarina didn't care as she walked over to the two. "I wouldn't mind seeing your bedroll, Alyssa. And if it's as big as you say it is, maybe we can see if it's a fit for two." Catarina said coyly. This was mostly to dissuade Malkai from making any advances on Alyssa.

When Alyssa defended her reasons for buying such an expensive bedroll, Catarina nodded. "She's right you know. Not everyone enjoys roughing it in our skivvies and memories of happier times. Sometimes you have to enjoy the simpler things, like waking up without a sore back or wet socks."

Vivian sighed at the discussion over a magical bed rolls, she didn't have much of anything magical except her bird friend hidden within his secret compartment. Which should be wearing off any second, she could feel him squirming out and popping up from underneath her clothing. He was a raven, a rather large raven to be exact. Not as big as Falchion but he was a decent size. He looked about the camp at her choice of companions.
"Well, this is interesting,.... nice choice of friends." The Raven spoke. A sign of which language she taught him. She shrugged at his response not really telling if he was being sarcastic or serious.
"Well they are better then my previous one Bernard." She responded.

Jarvis listened on the conversations going about and he heard Catarina offering to share Alyssa's bed roll and he had to chuckle a little. Am I traveling with a bunch of lesbians or something? He thought to himself. He could already smell the stew he was brewing. Everything was going good so far. So far this adventure in itself was going good. He was with a group with only one cocky idiot and the others were all pretty good fighters. As long as anything didn't try to kill them during the night everything would be perfect. He stirred the stew a bit once more and sighed. "I miss my home back within the mountain. If only the rift hadn't opened. It wasn't greed or anything either. Our mountain provided the area with a good source of iron and some mithril. We were only doing our jobs which meant sometimes we had to dig a little deeper to get what our clients wanted. We had no idea that it could open a tear through the dimensions and let a fowl demon through it." He said. He didn't like being the one to destroy the mood, but whenever he cooked like this it always gave him flashbacks.

Malkai shrugged. While most druids found pleasure in nature's bounty, Malkai grew up alone in the forest. He didn't have animal friends and the druids largely left him to fend for himself. It'd be more accurate to say that he learned barbarism before druidism. So admittedly, the idea of having something like a magical bedroll that ensured you're warm and dry was really nice. Even if Malkai was used to less. Though Catarina's comment about sharing a bedroll with Alyssa made him roll his eyes (Which again, would go unnoticed due to his face-covering mask). 「I'm surrounded by raging lesbians...」 He sighed in Sylvan. "I can't argue with that I suppose. Still silly for you to buy a bedroll just for a good night's rest."

Jarvis was getting close to finishing up dinner (Hopefully) when he started rambling on about old times. It was bad enough to hear Alyssa ramble, but now the dwarf is going to speak about his home. The moment he said "I miss home", Malkai could guess what happened next: He lost his home because something attacked it and now he's the only few dwarves left. Sure enough Jarvis said that his people worked a mine and dug too deep, opening some sort of gate to one of the planes of hell and got attacked by demons. Malkai has heard so many stories like that he wonders if dwarves ever learned how to stop running into monsters from the underdark. Malkai couldn't help but prod Jarvis with a rather offensive comment. "You'd think they'd learn not to dig so deep for profits. There's a reason why the underdark is ruled by ruthless people or eldritch abominations."

Alyssa face flushed at Catarina's bold offer. What is this? Not one, but two women interested in bedding her? Alyssa was a flirt, and was known to chase a skirt or so. She was not accustomed however to being chased, much less by multiple women. "M-maybe we'll see?" Was about all she could manage.

"I can't argue with that I suppose. Still silly for you to buy a bedroll just for a good night's rest." Malkai said, after an exasperated comment in what sounded like sylvan? Alyssa wasn't entire sure, but sylvan shared some words and syntax with elven, a language she did know.

"It's not about one good night's sleep, it's about always knowing I'll get one." She shook her head. "Catarina's got the idea."

The scent of stewing vegetables and pork reached her nose, calling her seductively back towards the campfire. Dwarven history is full of tragedies like the one Jarvis was describing, or so the books she'd read would lead her to believe. Some people believed that it was no fault but the dwarves that they continued to happen. That might be true, but there were just about as many stories about Dwarven legions holding off the horrors of the underdark as there were tragedies. Dwarves were a brave people, and bravery is often punished. She didn't really have anything to say to Jarvis, but she did offer him a pat on the shoulder and a commiserating look.

"Well they are better then my previous one Bernard." Alyssa turned her head to see a raven climbing out of Vivian's clothes. That would have probably been weird if Alyssa didn't know that spell herself. Speaking of which she should probably replace her familiar one of these days.

"Are we? We're kinda weird."

Jarvis looks to Malkai his eyes narrowing. "Well, the mountains don't contain infinite amounts of iron. Not only that, vegetables or the foods we have in our mountain homes don't come fro. Within the mountain. They come from outside, from towns or cities. So when trade routes are formed it ends up being with whatever we have and that is stone and iron." He said.
"It's easy to wield a weapon and not know where the materials came from to make it. Dwarven blood was spilled in the delivery of such things. It's was to ridicule another's lifestyle without knowing much about it." He felt the meal was done and then walked away. His appetite went with his mood. He did not care to eat at the moment. "Help yourselves,... I'm not hungry. Figured I would cook for those who. Despite how grateful they are." With that he slumped into his bed roll and let himself drift into slumber.

Vivian felt a little sympathy for the dwarf. She sighed and wondered why Malkai had to say what he said. She noticed the bowls all standing close by and lifted one up and a spoon to go with it. She didn't even notice them at first. Perhaps they were slightly hidden from view of her. She didn't think to much of it and scooped up some of the stew.

She kept quite as well figuring maybe it was a good Tim to not talk. All she did was eat her food and share a bit of it with her familiar.

Malkai said nothing to Jarvis' rebuttal. Sounded like the dwarf wanted pity, but Malkai had none to be had. Talking about things from the past is bad luck. Especially if that thing is about bad luck. Jarvis went to retire early for the night, so Malkai helped himself to a bowl of the stew. It wasn't bad.

Once Malkai had a bowl full he stood up and left. While he could taste a bit through his mask, he was much more comfortable eating without it. But he didn't like showing his face, even through he was still in disguise. The less they knew, the better, he figured. Once he felt he was alone Malkai called for Falchion. And after laying his mask on the ground next to him, Malkai and Falchion ate from the same bowl.

Letting out a breath as Malkai left Alyssa alone, Jarvis finished dinner and Catarina went to help herself to some stew. But then Malkai had to go say something stupid and Jarvis went to bed without eating. "Jeez, these people..." Catarina had a lot of vegetables with a few pieces of meat. She added some extra salt and spices to make the good soup great. She didn't expect Jarvis to be decent at cooking. She would thank him later.

After eating her fill it was just Alyssa and Vivian. She didn't see the other sorcerer or the orc anywhere. She was a bit concerned so she called out to them. "Xavio, Graug, dinner is ready!" If they didn't come, Bo skin if Catarina's nose. While she waited she bit iced Alyssa talking time Vivian and her crow. She guessed it was a familiar. Considering that Alyssa was also also a spell caster Catarina was curious if Alyssa had a familiar too. "Say Alyssa, don't you have a familiar also? Or do not all mages have familiars?"

Alyssa served herself some stew and took a seat near the fire to eat. She watch Jarvis head off to his tent. Malkai can be an asshole, or so it would seem. Some people found it easier to blame a people for their problem, as opposed to seeking understanding before laying blame. As a wizard it was her responsibility to try to understand as much as she can, and she often fell quite short of that, but it was important to try in all things.

"I need to replace mine. She ran afoul of a very large dog a while back." She responded to Catarina's inquiry about her familiar. "I just haven't had the time or inclination really."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." Catarina started wiping her bowl and spoon clean before putting them away. While she doesn't really know much about magical animals, Catarina could understand the pain of losing a pet. She used to have a dog that her father raised to guard the camp. But to Catarina it was always her puppy, even after it grew big enough reach her waist while on all fours. He died one day during a particularly bad battle, where the enemy managed to reach their camp. He took out two knights before he was impaled on a knight's lance. "If you don't mind me asking Alyssa, where did your learn magic? You don't really strike me as the type who'd apply for a mage college or surround herself with dusty tomes. I mean, I'm also assuming you're a wizard and not a sorcerer, too."

Alyssa waved her hand dismissively "She was a catty bitch anyway...no pun intended." She looked away sighing. "She was my catty bitch though...I do miss her some. Probably why I haven't replaced her."

Alyssa laughed at the dusty tome comment. Little did Catarina know Alyssa did indeed surrounder herself with dusty tomes at every given opportunity, hers or not. "Yeah, I'm a wizard. I learned my craft from my drow mistress during my stay among them. She must have been pissed when I finally got invisiblility to work and walked out with her spellbook and a large portion of her jewelry."

"Arcane secrets are seductive. What wizards never tell you is that they're basically junkies, waiting for their next fix of forbidden lore." She grinned. "I never formally joined a guild or college, but I'm pen pals with some of the more impressive wizards around. We swap techniques and the like. College learning just isn't for me, I can't imagine being cooped up that long."

She looked over to Vivian. "I've always wondered what it was like to be a sorcerer though. All the fun none of the study?"

Vivian smiled,... "So it was you who stole her book,... oh good if you had only stayed around to see her tantrum." Vivian said with a smirk. She then nodded with a shrug as she tried to sum up the ability of a sorcerer. "Your pretty much right,... I mean the only thing that limits a sorcerer is her knowledge of the spells she is casting. If she don't know it exists she can't really cast it. Certain spells I do avoid casting though. Specifically ones that summon demons, don't even know why my kin still do sometimes. They are very uncontrollable and will turn on you the moment the know you can't. One idiot had summoned a balor but was so experienced it pretty much laughed at him and left him there on the floor." Vivian then looked over to the spot where the orc had been sitting to see her gone. Well shit Catarina wasn't just not seeing her. Where the hell did the orc go?... oh well. At least they wouldn't have to put up with her smell now. Vivian looked over at her Raven and patted him on the head as she placed her bowl down and let him finish the stew for her.

"I had plenty of choices for a familiar too,... but Bernard here caught my eye the most. How the light catches his black feathers making them shine. Of course I didn't have to pick a familiar. They told me the risks when I did,... but I didn't care. Bernard has acted as my eyes for quite along while. Of course, the fact I taught him to speak common comes in handy." She added.

---------------------------

Jarvis remained asleep easily falling into the dark abyss of the deep sleep. On the other hand their orc found her way to wonder around the ruins, she saw the same entrance and waited for when the bird had left his perch and then ascended and entered the temple. She was hoping she could get the chalice and leave before anyone else entered. Then get the reward for herself. She smirked her large tusks poking out as she thought she was so clever. Of course this was her last mistake in her pitiful life. As she climbed up and over the ledge what she saw was almost pitch darkness. Luckily for her natural dark vision she was able to see some what. It was not as good as a drows but she felt it was better then most. She climbed down inside and began to wonder about. She had no idea where this chalice actually was nor where to look. However, she aimed to continue looking no matter what. She started by looking at the statues seeing if there were any clue. They looked like they were of bone and the swords they held of steel. The swords were a bit old though and some sand had dried one them in spots. As she took a closer look and felt the rib cages she was amazed. It was actually bone,... what kind of temple was this? As she went from statue to statue she did not even notice of one of them move its head.

It emerged from its spot and followed behind her quietly until its foot hit against a rock. Quickly she turned and saw its visage. She rose up her great sword and was about to cry out but it moved its hand fast to cover her mouth. With the other it jabbed it's two handed sword through her gut and twisted it. It's empty visage waiting for her face to look the same. Once it was satisfied and the life left her body. It pulled the sword out and let her body drop.

The statue then returned to its position and continued it's guard of the great temple.

Finally they reached the temple. After Malkai came back from his recon he told them of the window serving as an entrance to the temple. Xavio noticed that the bird wasn't with him anymore but was currently waiting at the window-entrance. Vivian then proposed that she would go first thing in the morning to check the temple with her invisibility spell, dark vision and whatnot else. Catarina volunteered for the first watch and everyone started setting up tents. Tents...he didn't get one as he was in quite a rush to chase after them so he didn't have the chance to make the right preparations for this desert trip. One problem settled as the dwarf carried extra ones. Now he had to think about food...another thing he was out of, but luckily for Xavio the dwarf came as a package with that too. He was like a Healer+Warrior+Food+Resting equipment kit. Well no point waiting around for the food to be finished so Xavio went to study the temple's structure.[Temple description].

Suddenly Xavio noticed the female orc climbing the rope leading to the window-entrance and going in. What the hell was she thinking? OK, that was the wrong question to be asking about an orc. But since even the Mage's Guild needed so many people to complete this quest, "some" traps and monstrous abominations were to be expected. Where the hell did that Guardian Bird go anyway? Going behind everyone's back to the temple was considered desertion, according to how Xavio viewed things anyway. If they found her inside there still alive, she should be shot on spot. Xavio would do it if no one else was up for it. Hanging up on nature, Xavio went back to the campsite. Smelling the cooking and hearing the chatter hoping it wasn't about splitting the reward "4 ways" excluding him. He decided not to tell them about the deserting orc, seeing no point in doing that and with thoughts of not ruining everyone's meal. He would bet 30 golden coins that someone would suggest to go after her right this instant and he wouldn't want that. Well, with everyone keeping watch with turns, even by some miracle that the orc got out, with or without the artifact, the watch would surely take notice and warn them.

Filling a bowl with soup, taking a spoon, he sat down and started eating while enjoying the view.

With both Malkai and Falchion they finished eating their soup. He cleaned his bowl and put it into his pack before lifting Falchion in his hand. "Back to work, my friend." The half-orc removed his mask and gave his pet a peck on the head. One of the few times Malkai would show affection, and only when he's alone like he is right now. Falchion screeched and flew back to his post while Malkai donned his mask and stood up. it was dark now, and he wanted to get into the temple during the day. This way there may be at least some chance for illumination, if any natural rays could get into the deserted ruins.

Ensuring that no one was around, Malkai used his wild shape. Like the rest of his magic, there was no flashy lights or loud noises. His body simply began to glow with a faint light as his possessions melded into body and he turned into a desert fox. However his mask was a constant feature; though it shrank and changed it's shape to suit the face of a fox, it was still unmistakably his. Shaking the sand off his fur, Malkai proceeded to dig a fox hole. While most desert foxes weren't known to make burrows, that didn't mean they lacked the ability to. In about ten minutes Malkai made himself a decent fox-sized hole to sleep in, two feet beneath the surface and away from the harsh elements.

To her surprise Alyssa wad a wizard. She didn't really look the part, but that just goes to show that Catarina dhouldnt judge a book by it's cover. it's not all of them were old and dusty, but flashy and colorful, like Alyssa. What did surprise Catarina more though was that Alyssa was and former slave, and least that's what Catarina alndtssumed when she meant "drow mistress". More surprising, Vivian may actually know that drow mistress. What a small world.

"Wait wait wait. Alyssa, you used to serve a drow mistress? And Vivian, you know that mistress?"

"Wait...you knew her? Back when..." Alyssa's mind quickly conjured several horrific scenarios, some real, some imagined. She remembered the pain of her branding, the touch of her Mistress. She tormented herself with imagined scenarios in which Vivian revealed her true intention to return Alyssa to the deep dark of the drow homeland and summoned hordes of twisted demons to aid in that end.

Alyssa started pinching her arm repeatedly, and surely enough that brought her back to reality. She was above ground, not in the drow homeland. The only thing Vivian wanted was her body, not to return her there. Almost as quickly as it vanished her smile returned, although not as bright. "Yeah, It was a long time ago."

She turned to Vivian. "So how bad was her tantrum?"

"Well you can say she lost her head over the whole ordeal..." She said with a smile. " Literally and metaphorically. I guess she refused to accept that a human was able to steal her tome and accused my mother, the accusation followed with curses and threats that she apparently didn't back up. My mother is not one to take such things lightly and as a matriarch of a house she had a reputation to keep. Basically your mistress won't ever have the chance to come after you. That's how bad the tantrum was." She shrugged it off. "Not that I really cared anyways,... deep down I think my mother was looking for an excuse to kill her. Being a rival and all." Vivian admitted. That's what drow society was,... nothing but backstabs and house wars. I mean we did get the chance to do an occasional surface raid, but that was a rare case sometimes. She sometimes wondered if her mother was still alive or not. The chaos she started by leaving must have been a very big one. Her smile transforming into a smirk. She sighed and shook her head. "Let's just forget our lives in the underdark, to be honest there was nothing great about it. Life as a drow was even numbered when you were down there. Trust was.... well you can say fuck trust, it was every drow for themselves down there." She added. Now she was among a group that she could probably trust. The only one she didn't was Xavio and Malkai. The orc was easy pickings and she didn't care for her that much. Catarina and Alyssa were pretty welcoming.
"I have all the friends I need right now,... sure more will be gained hopefully in the future, but for now I am content with life on the surface."

She then yawned and figured it was time to hit the bed roll. She looked to Bernard. "You help Catarina with her watch. You see anything out of the norm you tell her. Got it?" Bernard nodded and waved his right wing in a sarcastic form. Vivian sighed and shook her head. With that she climbed into her bedroll and closed her eyes.

"Somethings are easier to forget than others?" Alyssa sighed. "But you're right."

She looked around and noticed the advanced hour. She was getting a bit tired herself, especially in the eyes, the desert sun had not been kind. She quickly finished her portion of the stew and cleaned the bowl using a small bit of her waterskin. She took it upon herself to clean up Jarvis' cooking gear, feeding the remaining stew to Betsy, and did her best to ensure it was packed properly.

Once that was finished she walked around the camp chanting. Once her circut was completed she finished her [ Alarm ] casting. Satisfied that she'd done her part until her watch she sighed happily

"If anyone needs me I'll be in my awesome bedroll." with a giggle Alyssa sashayed suggestively over to her little lean to and crawled in for the night.

Having finished his food, Xavio was lying on his bedroll ready to sleep when he heard the conversation between Alyssa and the drow. The drow was being...friendly? She would be the first to turn on the group after the artifact was retrieved. Well if the group didn't plan on taking him out while he slept he would be safe for the duration of the quest until they retrieved the artifact. They would surely "use" his power to get to the artifact and then dispose of him or at least someone would turn and dispose the rest. Imagining the drow and the ex-slave mage laughing on their corpses while they made their way together with the artifact, he fell asleep...