[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/b71cf5ab5cebec9b4e857200f7c42a8b.png[/img]

[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/dc185f5e06aa08f3af9fbb79b4040da5.png[/img]

[color=EBA536][b]Location:[/b][/color] [color=E579FF]Top Deck[/color]
[color=E579FF][b]Race:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Dark Elf[/color] & [color=E579FF]Human[/color]
[color=E579FF][b]Class:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Artificer[/color] & [color=E579FF]Rogue[/color]
[color=EBA536][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] [@Tae] Meiyu; [@Tracxyx] Bobi; [@PapaOso] Gears
[color=E579FF][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] [@Potter] Arya; [@princess] Phia & Korrak; [@Funnyguy] Miris (as Wendel); [@PapaOso] Bastion; [@samreaper] Menzai
[color=EBA536][b]Equipment:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
Medical bag
Tinkerer's kit
Arcane spindlelock (shortened) musket
Spindlelock pistols x2
Hand axes x2
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
First-aid bag
Tinkerer's kit
Spindlelock pistols x2
Steel daggers x2[/hider][color=E579FF][b]Attire:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
Dark brown, knee-length coat
Black waistbelt
Grey button-up shirt
Dark brown trousers
Heavy leather boots
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
Off-white shirt
Red ribbon tied around left arm
Brown hooded coat
Brown trousers
Leather boots
Goggles on her head[/hider][color=EBA536][b]Gold:[/b][/color] 55
[color=E579FF][b]Injuries:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
NA
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
NA[/hider]
[/center]

Maybe the [color=7DBC89]scary lady[/color] wasn’t so scary, after all. Maybe [color=E579FF][b]Vallena[/b][/color] had been wrong about her. 

That wasn’t to say that the girl wasn’t unsettled by her any less than before – something about the way her golden eyes never seemed to blink, and the way she kept touching her sword still made Vallena more than a little uncomfortable – but at least the urge to run far, far away was mostly gone, now! Scratch seemed to be getting along pretty well with the lady, too, so she couldn’t be all that bad.

They were getting along [i]very[/i] well, in fact, Vallena noted. She hid quiet, playful giggles behind her hand as she trailed behind the two adults. 

But anyway! That the dark elf was okay with the lady was a good sign. And that the lady was [i]also[/i] fine with him was a better sign. After all, the white-clothed man from earlier – [color=FEE300]Eyepatch[/color] – had been nice to Scratch, and [i]he[/i] was pretty nice himself. Therefore, since this lady was also nice to the dark elf, it was a reasonable guess to say that she [i]had[/i] to also be a decent-enough person. One that was a little weird, though. But that was fine! Scratch was weird too, sometimes. And now that Vallena thought about it, the dark elf could also be really, really scary on occasion. He thought she didn’t know, but he didn’t know that Vallena knew more than she let on, and that she was sneaky enough to know a thing or two about what he did when–

The girl’s eyes flitted from Scratch to the lady several times. Nice, but weird. Scary sometimes, but nice. A smile curled her lips. Things clicked in her head. The lady was maybe, possibly somewhat similar, or close enough to Scratch! Vallena had [i]nothing[/i] to worry about. Nothing at all!

Self-satisfied smugness washed over the girl’s face. Her smile turned into a grin, and she felt as if she had just grown a head taller. That was an impressive bit of logical deduction, if she dared say so herself! 

But that brought her another problem. If the lady was scary, then she couldn’t keep calling her ‘scary lady’, could she? It simply wouldn’t make any sense. What to call her, though? Maybe ‘Snake eyes’, on account of her eyes? That was too obvious. And it also sounded almost like an insult. It wouldn’t do. But there was nothing else Vallena could think of to use as a basis for a name.

[color=7DBC89]“…just as likely to draw its own blood."[/color]

Vallena blinked up at the lady. Without knowing it, she had slotted herself between Scratch and her, again, and worst of all, she had only caught the tail end of whatever it was the lady had said to her. Curiosity was mentioned, Vallena thought, and so was something about her nature, maybe? But what was all this about drawing blood? Whose blood? And what was doing the drawing? It was all so confusing. Like a…

[color=E579FF]“Riddle!”[/color] Vallena blurted out suddenly, pointing at the lady. [color=E579FF]“You’re Riddles!”[/color]

The moment it took for her to realise what she had just done was short. Very short. Shorter than the time it took for her to blink, even. But it may as well have been an eternity. Her cheeks heated up – Vallena swore they felt hotter than the fire elemental down below – and she wrung her hands so hard that it seemed as if she were trying to twist them off her wrists. 

[color=E579FF]“Sorry!”[/color] Her voice turned to a mouse’s squeak. [color=E579FF]“I-I was thinking about…Other stuff. But yes! Even Scratch says that I’m really curious.”[/color] A nervous laugh bubbled from her lips as she tried to think up an answer with what little information she had. [color=E579FF]“I-I just like knowing things, and finding out about things, and also learning about the world from adventurers’ stories! They always talk about really interesting places. I-I’d love to see some of those places, some day, but for now just knowing about them is fine! Scratch says I need to be a little more careful with finding out stuff, though, but he’s just being Scratch! I-I mean, I am careful and I try to be really, really careful, but I think he just worries too much.”[/color]

Another nervous laugh. [color=E579FF]“Anyway, Scratch and I have work to do! It was nice meeting you!”[/color]

Without waiting for a reply from the lady, or even a single word from Scratch, Vallena pushed her way into the bar. Right away, she felt a strangeness in the air. She couldn’t say what it was, only that it reminded of times when she walked in on Scratch having an argument with someone. The awkward tension, the muted atmosphere, it was all too familiar. Vallena suddenly felt very small as she moved through the crowd. 

But that feeling, along with the lingering embarrassment from earlier, vanished quickly, and without a trace, when she saw the various people – or peoples – gathered around Gears.

There was the [color=30A4D9]warforged[/color] she had seen earlier, imposing and very noticeable amongst a crowd of smaller, fleshier people. But there were also so many others! There was a [color=F97FCA]strangely-dressed woman[/color] with ears like Scratch’s, but skin that looked more human-like. What leaves were those that she was wearing? And what animal did those antlers come from? And beside her was a [color=ee82ed]wolf-person[/color]. Or maybe a dog-person? Vallena wasn’t sure what the difference was, but she knew she liked the look of his ears. Would he let her scratch them? What would he feel? A muted giggle vibrated in the girl’s throat.

And of course, she couldn’t miss the [color=7998CE]hooded figure[/color]. Hoods meant mystery, and mystery always meant that there was a story to be told. What was their story? Where did they come from? And that bird that was with them, what type was it? Did it have a name? Vallena assumed so. It would be weird to have a pet, and not give it a name. Then, there was the [Color=silver]dwarf[/color]. He looked old, with all that grey in his beard and hair, and so he had to have at least one interesting story to tell. Vallena was sure of it. Her eyes jumped excitedly between each of these new people. So many questions, so many things she wanted to do, and so little time!

[color=EBA536]“Val.”[/color] Scratch’s voice pulled her out from her mind. She twisted around and looked up at him, brown eyes meeting his knowing, crimson ones. He nodded towards the bar, then grinned at her. [color=EBA536]“I think this is a good opportunity for you to show me what you know. Go ahead and check in on Gears. Ask her the three starter questions, and we’ll go from there.”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“Really?”[/color] Vallena asked. Scratch had always handled warforged-related things from start-to-finish, but she guessed that he was giving her a chance to make up for failing his test earlier. He was nice like that. 

[color=EBA536]“I don’t see why not,”[/color] Scratch said with a shrug. [color=EBA536]“You’ve seen me do it enough times, and we’ve gone over the procedure more times than that. You should know what you’re doing.”[/color] He looked at the bar again, then back at her. [color=EBA536]“Better decide quick, Val. Otherwise, Gears is going to be far too busy to entertain us.”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“I’ll do it!”[/color] Immediately after that quick reply, Vallena turned and bounded towards the bar, clambering onto the first empty stool she could find, which happened to be right beside Riddles. The lady was busy talking to another woman, and it took all of Vallena’s self-control to give the latter only the most passing – but still somewhat lingering – of glances before focusing her attention on Gears. Most of it, anyway.

The girl waved to the bartender. [color=E579FF]“Hello, Miss Gears!”[/color] She beamed at the warforged. Gears was nice, and it had always puzzled her whenever she overheard people – passengers or otherwise – say terrible things about warforged. Surely they couldn’t be as bad as what they said, if Gears was one of them? [color=E579FF]“I’m here to check up on you! Oh, and Scratch is here, too.”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“Thanks, Val.”[/color]

Vallena giggled at her little joke. [color=E579FF]“Anyway! I guess I’ll start. Do you have any…Stiffness?”[/color] She stole a look at Scratch. He nodded. Pride swelled in the girl’s chest. [color=E579FF]“And squeakiness! Do you have that? And the last one…”[/color] She paused, her face scrunching up as she scratched her temple with a finger. Just as quickly, her eyes widened in realisation and she smiled. [color=E579FF]“Oh! And general discomfort! Do you have any discomfort or, or unsteadiness?”[/color] She turned to Scratch again, an expectant look on her face. She definitely got this one, there wasn’t any other possibility. 

[color=EBA536][b]Scaerthrynne[/b][/color] chuckled and nodded his head. [color=EBA536]“No complaints from me, Val. Impressive.”[/color] He patted the girl on the shoulder. It was a simple thing, to ask the first three questions any engineer should ask a warforged. Squeakiness and stiffness would immediately identify an issue with the joints, which were the most common points of failure. General discomfort or unsteadiness would point towards a problem with internal systems, which would require some opening up to resolve. After Vallena's mistake with the manifold, Scaerthrynne thought she could do with a small victory to lift her spirits. She was just a child, after all. She could be afforded such a thing.

Leaning against the bar counter, he took a quick look around. Specifically, he looked at the corner where the hateful dragonborn had taken a seat. Not at him – that would have been too obvious – but just at the general area whilst still keeping him well within sight. 

Vallena might have missed it, but Scaerthrynne had caught the last parts of his tirade. And to be honest, it wasn’t the contents that had irked him – after a few centuries of life, he had seen just about every stripe of bigotry a person could imagine, and even some unimaginable ones – as much as it had been the anger in the dragonborn’s words. Someone that vexed was liable to do something incredibly silly. That was the last thing Scaerthrynne wanted to happen. At least, not while Vallena and he were present. 

But then again, they were surrounded by people who looked like they knew violence well. Maybe that was enough of an incentive for the dragonborn to keep his maw shut. 

[color=EBA536]“Bridge told us you got caught in the rain some days back, Gears,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said to the bartender, his words and face amicable. Gears had always treated Vallena and he fairly, and she took enough nonsense from people who were less-than-friendly to her kind. Scaerthrynne had no desire to count himself amongst that inglorious group. [color=EBA536]“The Captain’s worried that you might be–”[/color] He stopped abruptly when he noticed the [color=gold]gnome[/color] behind the counter with her. [color=EBA536]“Hello,”[/color] he greeted with a nod, then turned back to Gears. 

[color=EBA536]“I’m jealous, Gears,”[/color] he said with a mischievous grin. [color=EBA536]“Can’t believe the Captain let you hire a hand before letting me get my second assistant.”[/color] He threw another furtive glance at the dragonborn’s corner. [color=EBA536]“Anyway, as I was saying, the Captain wanted me to make sure that you’re fine. And since we’re here, you might as well ask for whatever you need before we go back to playing with the fire elemental. Oh, and–”[/color] He nodded towards the dragonborn. [color=EBA536]“If you’re having any trouble, I might as well take the chance to play Gods and do something about it, too.”[/color]