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Lirrah's body was still on high alert, despite the fact that the fighting was over. Almost everyone that wasn't ripped apart, stabbed, or exploded, Lirrah was relatively certain she had killed while their backs were turned. Or, had she accidentally missed a vital and left a few alive, they were probably taken care of by the other Lions on the way to the cultists' hideout.

Lirrah did not particularly care to look, if a few needed to be finished off.

Once they got to where the group supposedly made their dwelling, however, they were greeted with an unexpected sight: destroyed effigies and barriers. Ones that they hadn't seen to. There was a lack of manpower, and a good deal of blood at the entrance. The blood was fresh, but there were no dead bodies in sight. Lirrah's eyes wildly scanned everything she could see, because she was still under the dominion of her adrenaline-soaked brain, but she heaved the sort of not-at-all-bothered smile onto her face that she was used to affecting. She was a Lion, for the moment, and Lions weren't bothered by all the things that tore into her own little Nem heart.

"I-it would have had to pe near-simultaneous, wouldn't it?" Lirrah mused, smiling with an almost disturbing amount of calm for someone's first sortie, despite the shaking words nearly getting caught in her throat.

Lirrah dare not go further than anyone else to investigate. That was for the tough ones. The brave ones.

"A coincidence of such enormity that it must pe elevated to the level of a miracle," she went on, trying to figure out how and why such a thing might happen, hoping to be of at least some use as long as she was going to be there, "which is to say, something like an impossipility. At almost the exact time they left to take our pait, a different force rushed in to take their hideout. However, since I cannot pelieve in such miracles, the only explanation for that is that the other force somehow knew our plans to the moment. A most disturping thought, put that is only one theory. If that was the case, though, then the other force must want something that they think the cultists have. Something that we might take if we were the ones raiding. Otherwise, why put their own lives on the line if we were just going to take care of it?"

Though Lirrah's response was an extension of Velvetica's initial confusion, she spoke to anyone who might listen. The longer she was talking, the more likely someone else was to get closer to the entrance and not her.

In a way, this theory may have been a reflection of herself. She could come up with it, because under different circumstances she could see herself selling the Lions' information for coin and collaborating with a third party. Cultists get killed either way, less strain on Lion resources. Everyone wins! Only, Lirrah would not do that. Information like that is precious, and could easily be sold back to any number of people who intend the Lions harm. Or maybe the group she was collaborating with were very good liars.

Though it made her nauseous, Lirrah knew well that there might be a world in which she did just that and counted her coin as her compatriots got slaughtered in a counter-ambush. Lirrah, looking slightly sick, shook her head.

"But I didn't, and wouldn't, do that."
Lirrah's expression was utterly ineffable to all. Even she didn't know what the feelings on her face were meant to convey. A strange cocktail of terror, excitement, and outright mania coalesced into something like an enormous smile as a third flask ruptured inside an enemy formation.

It wasn't her own actions that rampaged through her mind. It was that of the other Lions. The ones who were competent at killing. For a moment, Lirrah nearly mistook István for a monster. He descended upon the mass like a fearsome Djinni right out of the bedtime stories of Near Eastern children, but she doubted your average storybook Djinni could possess the sort of bloodlust that István seemed to relish.

Your wish is granted.

István had ruthlessly rammed his heel into a cultist, stomping him into the dirt like a cockroach, illuminated in flame. He had normally seemed so calm when purchasing his coffee beans. Gruff and big and scary, but relatively even in temper. She had never really imagined him like this.

But they were all answering her call. All wish-granters, delivering on her plea. Lirrah might have been rendered catatonic if she hadn't seen similar slaughter before, when Velvetica had rescued her from brigands.

Ah, Velvetica. Lirrah could not help but think that the way she killed people was so beautiful that it might have been a harmless, expertly-choreographed dance. The blood spurting from that man's throat might as well have been a quantity of ribbons they had prepared beforehand, for effect. It seemed like he might get up after Velvetica was all done, and take a bow with her other victims.

But of course, Lirrah knew that wasn't going to happen. She could ruminate on the fighting styles of all the Lions, but was thankfully jerked back to reality by Kayliss, her newest customer. Cover her. That was something Lirrah could do. She had illuminated all the cultists who had been in the back by now, and they were swiftly being taken care of by Irian. The least Lirrah could do would be to look out for her newest prospect.

Lirrah shook her head, and concentrated on Kayliss, who had taken to the very edges of the battle. There was no doubt in her mind that Kayliss would avoid most detection even without Lirrah's help, what with the darkness and the confusion of battle, but some of the enemies had started backing off. The Lions struck like lightning, so it was easy to imagine the tripping of the fight-or-flight switch. It was the fliers that Kayliss was probably worried about.

Lirrah had her bow at the ready. Her hands were shaking, so she smacked her own cheek.

"Get it together," she thought, "no one will come to hurt the Nem merchant in the back. Everyone else is too dazzling for them to see you. You're safe. Calm down... and shoot."

Lirrah re-steadied herself just as a fleeing cultist began to bolt in Kayliss' direction. She might not have been as practiced with the bow as Irian, but Lirrah's night vision was amazing and fleeing enemies were relatively predictable in trajectory. She let loose an arrow, and one cultist fell.

Ah... now this was something she could do. Pick off the runners. It didn't seem very knightly, but Lirrah was no knight, after all.

Pull, aim, release.

With the added benefit of not needing to shoot into melee. She wasn't confident enough in her skills to not hit an ally this far away.

Pull, aim, release.

She hoped everyone would want to try her food later.

Pull, aim, release.
Lirrah nodded at the Steel Princess as she packed an explosive flask into her sling, and began swinging. Light up the back and kill them all before they can join the conflict. Lirrah had thought about how to put her vision to use, and she was glad that Velvetica approved. She wasn't very experienced in this sort of conflict, but it was easy enough to not feel too bad about the blood that would be on her hands. Necromancers? Hadriyu. Savage creatures that only killed and consumed and caused havoc.

Lirrah had killed Hadriyu before. Marking a few cultists for the archers and mages to slaughter was little different. There would be no hesitation in her throw.

One good thing about the sling was that it didn't take a strong arm to use one effectively. Most of the force came from the swinging, so even someone as small as Lirrah could throw a good distance. She was only accurate for so far of her maximum range, but pinpoint accuracy wasn't required of her now. Just a general area.

And when Velvetica called down the storm, a general area is what she got. What must have gone through the blackguards' minds when the world exploded into bright flames all around them? With one last swing of her arm, Lirrah hurled the flask and lit up the cultists who had waited in the back like the midday sun. She loaded up another, began swinging, and when the fear and confusion was at its peak, she let another fly into a second group.

"Kill 'em, kill 'em, kill 'em," Lirrah squeaked, her little heart nearly pounding out of her chest with the excitement and stress of a battle joined.
As Lirrah watched and waited, she set out a few explosive flasks and got her sling ready. She had thought over and over about how to put her vision to use, and came up with the idea that she'd fling the flasks at farther away detachments that were more difficult for others to see. That way, she could light their positions up noticeably to point them out to the archers and mages. Of course, she'd do this once the cultists were concentrating on the bait team, when the ambush team was starting their assault.

Lirrah glanced up at Irian when he came up to her, and flashed him a friendly smile. Even for the merchant, it was difficult to tell if he was being sarcastic (Veltans and their biting sarcasm), but the truth remained: he had approached her. This was enough for Lirrah to guess at a degree of honesty behind his intentions.

"My, my, did I say that out loud~?" Lirrah pouted sweetly, "I was joking, of course~ but if you're hungry... hm... I only have the field rations I packed for myself. I would pe happy to share, though, Iri~"

Lirrah was already in her bag unpacking some flasks, so in a motion so immensely swift that it would have been uncharacteristically fearsome if she had been grabbing a knife, she set out a couple of parcels. A part of her wanted to ask Irian for money, but knew that the better practice was to build comradery. If she could have some of the Lions sample food from her homeland risk-free, and they liked it, she might actually be able to sell some. Samples make sales.

"I have some flatpreads filled with melon paste and... ah," Lirrah realized her mistake. She had packed some of her special jerky that was, while profoundly flavorful, also profoundly spicy. She'd scarcely met a Veltan that had even seen a spicy food before, and was leery regarding whether an average person from Velt wouldn't just die attempting to eat her meat.

"Actually, that meat isn't really... suited for a Veltan palate," she said diplomatically, "try the melon."

As if on cue, foreshadowing the danger of Lirrah's jerky, Velvetica announced the presence of enemies. Lirrah was soon able to to note every despicable presence, and grabbed for her sling.

"I'll light up the petter-hidden ones when we strike," Lirrah announced, strangely serious for once, "I don't think it'll pe accurate enough to do much damage at this range, put it will give us good vision."

Lirrah took this opportunity to give Irian a nod, and then turned to the Hundi, who she at least knew was a mage, but she had her eyes closed for some reason. Well, if the order was to strike fast and hard, a fiery explosion at their feet was probably a good way to begin.
Lirrah's eyes widened as Kayliss began speaking. She seemed much more talkative now, and had relaxed her threatening glare. Well, things like that didn't much scare Lirrah in the first place. It was very big people that scared her, possibly because they reminded her of Hadriyu in some ancient corner of her mind. Even then, however, none of them were safe from her hunger for favorable business transactions.

Lirrah smiled from ear to ear as she looked up at the woman. So, that was an act. A face she put on to try and force Lirrah into the deal she wanted. Lirrah wondered, briefly, how many faces the woman had. Not that it mattered, of course. Business was business, but noting it now might be useful later.

"Oh, fantastic," Lirrah chirped happily, clasping her own hands together and resting them against her cheek in a cutesy, almost prayer-like invite for affection, "that sounds like a wonderful deal~ of course, we'll have to set an order minimum or it won't be worth it for either of us..."

Lirrah beckoned the woman to her tent to look at some of the herbs she did have in stock.

"...Put we can chat about that nasty money stuff later," Lirrah added in a half-pout, as if the librans involved somehow despoiled the simple joy of making a transaction (they didn't), "for now, let's get you what you need and head out~"

Lirrah's supply certainly contained herbs for cooking and for medicine, some of which might be used as poison reagents depending on the concentration and dose, and probably contained a few of the rarer subjects in small quantities that she had gotten hold of but hadn't sold yet. Desiccated, perhaps, but very usable. In addition, she also kept herbs of Nemish origin that weren't often seen in these lands. Things for folk remedies and home cooking (mostly for herself, as it hadn't quite caught on among the Veltans yet). Despite not being an apothecary, she had a somewhat favorable selection on hand.

"You know, sometimes it's hard to get all the herbs you need in one place. People ask questions when you need certain compinations... it's so confusing," Lirrah pondered aloud, innocent as the day she was born, "and the people who don't ask a lot of questions charge so much more! Well, not your good pal Lirrah! Eheehee, I don't know much about these plants, so I just tend to assume it's cooking~"

Lirrah winked and stuck her tongue out like a particularly dumb and charming orange cat.

"So whatever you want to order, I'll get it all, and at amazingly reasonable prices~"

The messaging, of course, was clear. No other merchants were needed. Lirrah could take the full list, and nary an inquiry would be made. As long as Kayliss understood this, Lirrah had no doubt that they would start a long and beneficial business relationship.

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

Lirrah felt almost like a real Lion, camped out with the others on the ambush team. The social clout and increased rapport from the mission would doubtless come in handy when dealing with the other soldiers, and maybe one or two would finally want to try some traditional Nemish cuisine. The Veltans had no idea how much time or money went into those dishes, so she could probably charge a lot once it got more popular. She'd blame a supply shortage for the price increase.

Lirrah smiled as she kept watch, knowing that it would be borderline impossible for the stupid necromancers to ever see her before she saw them. Nem had fantastic night vision, and Lirrah's was exceptional even among them. For a first job, keeping watch was a fantastic position for her to have.

...

Well, maybe she wouldn't overcharge for the Nemish food.

Even Lirrah had empathy. Love. The prospect of sharing food from her homeland and seeing the Veltans eat it happily was something she could take genuine joy in. Enough that it would be worth selling... at market price.

"Ila-nem," Lirrah muttered perversely, her sharp eyes scanning the distance, "I am so benevolent. Perhaps I should be a goddess~"
Lirrah smiled sweetly as Irian extended his hand. His words implied, perhaps, that she would be expected to do more work than her own words suggested. Well, it wasn't as if she was planning on doing nothing, and it wasn't like the Elf would have the luxury of watching her the whole time, but it was significantly more expectation than she was used to.

Still, when a soldier offers a hand, you shake. This could not be refused, she imagined, as soldiers were a tight-knit group. Spurn one, spurn many. Befriend one, befriend many. That, and he threw in a nickname. Nicknames were excellent for business relations. Trading some small degree of combat expectation for this much social clout had Lirrah coming out like a bandit.

Lirrah reached out to daintily take his hand, and suddenly found her arm clasped in the bond of battle siblings. She trembled a little, but gripped the man's arm with as much force as her tiny body could muster. This was more than she had bargained for, but if she was gonna do it, she had to do it properly.

"Iri, then," she snatched up the offered nickname like a wolf to a steak, "it's a pleasure~ I am Lirrah Matayannah! As someone new to these lands, it is always good to meet new friends~"

'New friends' was, perhaps, a little presumptuous, but if she was taking the arm-clasp, she was taking everything she could.

And her smile was nectar while- OH ILA-NEM-

Lirrah practically jumped out of her boots when yet another scary person accosted her, this one brandishing an order in her face. With her pale face made even paler, she awkwardly broke the handshake to snatch up the list, giving Iri an apologetic smile.

As this went on, the discussion about the plan continued, including Cadmon's talking about using her as bait. If Lirrah was capable of shooting a terse death glare that would make someone fear for their safety, then Cadmon would feel it. She was, thankfully, not capable of this. Cadmon was fantastic as a potential customer, so she would just have to remember to overcharge him.

As Lirrah looked over the list, she was able to connect it with the sorts of requests she'd get from certain shady individuals. She was no apothecary, and she didn't particularly ask questions, but she could recognize ingredients for a poison when she saw them now. Velvetica-sanctioned poison. Very interesting. Lirrah smiled up at the woman who, after the initial shock, actually wasn't so scary. She had dealt with customers that had gazes like hers before. They were typically the dour sort. Maybe a little sad.

"Oh, dear me, no," Lirrah apologized without apologizing, "the 10% off is for her personal use. If it was for anything the Lions needed, I'd be selling everything lower. I'd put myself out of a jop!!"

Lirrah pouted cutely.

"Although... I'll tell you what: I wouldn't like to leave a pretty woman like you disappointed. How apout we make it 15% off if you commit to a reoccurring order? Say... once a month, for three months at least? We can do more if you need, though. Some of this stuff I have, yet a few things here are hard to get hold of. The more you order in advance, the more likely you'll have it on hand if you need more than you thought. Isn't that a great deal? It's propably something you'd order anyways, put at 15% off! I'm gonna ruin myself at that rate~"

She gave the woman a honey-sweet wink as the battle discussion was wrapping up. To no one's surprise, Lirrah wouldn't be bait. They did get to vandalize evil effigies, though. She guessed that would be a big hit for most of the soldiers. They'd probably use the chance to flex their creativity. How productive!
Lirrah had been hoping for a little more fanfare, a heartfelt declaration of protection, or even a mention of how cute and amazing she was and what a pleasure it would be to defend her. She had no right to expect it, of course. Not from someone of Velvetica's stature (social), in particular. Still, it was something. She smiled happily, her expression conveying that Velvetica's response was as pleasing to Lirrah as she could possibly have imagined.

All Lirrah really needed was Velvetica's word to do her best to protect her. Velvetica seemed the sort to put a lot of stock in verbal contracts (you shouldn't), and it would have been as good as the ink it wasn't written in that Lirrah would come back virtually unscathed. Well, she supposed it was hard to promise such things in times like these. Still, she was not expecting to be part of the battle plan. It was almost flattering, being treated as a mercenary asset. Like she was a real knight or something.

But real knights got killed.

Her eyes drifted to Guillaume once more, who was ecstatically hobnobbing with perhaps two of the most important and dour gentlemen she had been apprised of in the whole camp. How did a man that seemingly naïve survive this long? Perhaps she would have back row seats. Anyways, if she was on good terms with the knight, and he was on good terms with Cadmon, there may be some business prospects there.

Still, the business at hand was surviving. Lirrah gave Velvetica a polite curtsey, and smiled brightly.

"Thank you, lady Hraesleg. I will look out for any dangers that may come our way, and do my utmost with my meager compat abilities. Oh, and please feel free to stop py my tent more often! You have a standing 10% off 'Saving My Life' discount on any items you desire! I can get anything you want, lady Hraesleg. Anything."

Lirrah turned to the bowman next to her, who had asked about the battle plan. She supposed she would be grouped with him soon, and Lirrah hadn't had much of a chance to interact with many Elves. They seemed to be rather reclusive here, and borderline nonexistent back home. All she knew was that they apparently lived for a very long time. Maybe some of them had a lot of savings squirreled away, though she wouldn't assume. Either way, he was pretty and had a sort of austere regality to him.

Then again, a lot of the Lions were pretty. You wouldn't think it, but Ila-Nem were they pretty. Of course, Lirrah knew she was the cutest and prettiest, but a more insecure type would probably be grinding her teeth looking at everyone.

Well, maybe she felt a little threatened.

She smiled up at the archer and gave him a wink.

"My, you look tall and strong! I'm sure I'll feel safe with a reliable gentleman like yourself," Lirrah sang, pouring on the charm like strawberry jam on a dry biscuit, "Let's protect each other out there, shall we? I look forward to working together~"

What Lirrah meant by this, of course, was that the taller and stronger combatant should take some responsibility for protecting the shorter, weaker one. The way she said it, however, made it seem almost like an equal partnership. A joint business venture in which they'd both gleefully profit, when the reality was that she'd want Irian to do most of the tough work while she languished upon her own timidity and reaped rewards.
Lirrah parted with her customers, having sold a relatively good amount, and packed up before heading over to the briefing. The Demon woman, notably, seemed to be able to vanish rather quickly for one so big. If a Demon could truly just come and go as they pleased, it was perhaps a little bit alarming, but more in a cosmic sense than an immediate one.

Well, as long as her pastries were well-liked, she probably wouldn't be killed.

Lirrah heard Velvetica out, knowing that having her finger on the pulse of the latest goings-on was a great tool for a merchant, and also a fantastic way to not die. Lirrah didn't get get the Juyuem vitriol against necromancy. Though Ila-Nem also warned against their evils, it wasn't quite so ingrained in her people. Hadriyu were the more pressing concern, but perhaps one's scorpion men were another's necromancers.

Hadriyu were, by nature, monsterous Nem-killers. Was there something in the nature of necromancy that ensured a particularly monsterous person? If not for the mindless undead craving for flesh, eternal unskilled labor seemed a good business prospect. Though if that's what a necromancer wanted, they could just learn to make golems. It was probably that innate viciousness that could be pointed to in any civilized discussion about the subject: mindless undead were killing machines, and if a necromancer were to lose control, they would continue plaguing the world until dismantled.

Like a Hadrid.

Lirrah felt some degree of disgust well after anyone who actually despised necromancy, but she got there. Only, she looked as if she hated necromancers the entire time she was debating whether or not there might be any business viability. She knew her clientele. All the people around her hated it, so she hated it too. She looked just as disgusted by the mention of the dark arts as anyone else.

An easily-changing value system was yet another magnificent tool for a merchant.

Once she was finished speaking, Lirrah timidly approached her. Velvetica was yet another person who was kind of scary, though by no means tall. Lirrah knew, however, that she was good-hearted. Even if everyone told her not to spend time on bandits, she could not ignore those in front of her.

Lirrah understood this value firsthand.

"San'yashu, lady Hraesleg," Lirrah greeted her softly. It wasn't really something she wanted a lot of other people to hear. She looked up at the woman, eyes glistening innocently, and briefly wondered if the fact that Lirrah had to look up at her when they spoke made Velvetica feel tall.

Lirrah hoped this was the case.

"I would not dare ask you to leave anyone pehind on my account, nor ask for anyone to escort me to home camp. You need as many people as you can get to deal with these awful necromancers, so... I was actually thinking I would like to help you more! To do my part for Velt," she lied as naturally as she breathed, "I wanted to pring some items along, and maybe help keep an eye out. My eyes are very good in the gloom, and I am an expert at avoiding danger! Only... I do still get scared. May I count on you, again, to see me through the night? E-even though I am weak... I would like to do something."

Lirrah turned her meek and cute act up to maximum. If this didn't make Velvetica want to protect her with everything she could, Lirrah didn't know what would.
Lirrah's cheeks reddened slightly as the knight loudly exclaimed his love for her pie. Of course, Lirrah knew it was the best. She had made it. However, the sheer robust earnestness with which the man conducted himself was almost an embarrassment. She had heard, around camp, of one who went by the epithet 'The Sincere'. She didn't have near enough knowledge to say for certain, but if the title was not ironic, she could guess that it applied to this man.

But he was definitely hiding something.

Lirrah knew that the more outwardly honest someone seemed, the more likely they were to have a skeleton in their closet or two. Or maybe it was a manipulation tactic? Well, it didn't matter for now. Lirrah could not be confounded so easily, anyways, and it probably had nothing to do with her besides. Whether he accidentally shoplifted once or routinely killed people in his basement, he liked her cooking and his money was good. Lirrah put a bright, cutesy expression on her face.

"Thank you so much, mister knight! I'm so glad you like it! Please come pack to the Matayannah Trading Company at pase camp for home cooking at its finest! I love having customers as enthusiastic as you!"

Lirrah noted, during her exchange, that Velvetica was meeting with some of the people who had been sent to scout. An announcement would likely be made soon, so it was probably time to start packing up her goods. She smiled sweetly as the Demon woman, with a strange joviality, explained how dire it would be if her friends were to show up for food. Lirrah swallowed.

And the woman patted her head.

Lirrah figured that many Nem would be borderline offended by the gesture, as infantilizing as it was. Then again, many Nem did not purposely put on a cute act to sell more. In truth, Lirrah had been patted so many times that she had considered selling them if she could word it in a way that didn't make her seem scummy. It was a part of building rapport, it was a tool in her kit, and she really didn't mind being fawned over. Adorability was a weapon, in its own way, and it was likely the reason she was here at all.

Lirrah wondered, briefly, what the Demon woman would think of her ambitions. The lengths she would go to stand at the top of the-

Ila-Nem, it was like being trapped under the massive paw of some great beast, and she was but a mouse. Lirrah's cheeks reddened a bit more, and she shivered.

"W-well, thank you so much for saying so~" Lirrah tweeted, turning her cute up a few notches, "I have spirit in apundance! I think you and I are speaking of different friends, though. I more meant comrades in the immediate area. Perhaps your Hundi friend, if the occasion takes her!"

Lirrah beamed up at the woman, punctuating her request with the world's most honey-soaked giggle.
Lirrah practically jumped when she was addressed by a newcomer, her nerves already agitated by the presence of the world's tallest demon. When she looked up, however, she was greeted by the sight of the sort of person that might be described in a heroic storybook. Tall, golden-haired, with a sort of reassuring joviality.

Lirrah had read one or two of the more popular Veltan stories to get a sense of what does well over there, though she had not grown up with them. She was neither starry-eyed nor enthralled, but his presence was nevertheless a comfort. She forced a smile up on her face, which was almost indistinguishable from her genuine one.

"A-ah, yes, this is our first meeting," she replied, producing a mutton pie and indicating a price of 1200. As she leaned over to give the man a ticket for a pastry later, she added in a conspiratorial whisper, "I certainly would have called for help myself if my voice hadn't gotten stuck in my throat... ahaha..."

She quickly turned her attention back to the demon woman (not that she had left Lirrah's vision since she showed up) as she took the Hundi's money. Perhaps the demon's summoner? Either way, the Hundi quickly busied herself with the knight. They seemed to be on good terms. Lirrah had yet to clock all the dynamics in this location, so it was good information to have.

Lirrah gave the demon woman a big smile, still forced, and still almost indistinguishable.

"T-thank you. I, ah, make all the food myself. C-cooking and selling! My skillset is hardly suited to compat. I'm just a weak little Nem~"

Lirrah didn't mention that she wasn't bad with a bow or a sling. She doubted that would be enough for the woman to take an interest in her, but the further beneath notice she was on that front, the better. If this was a woman who only enjoyed a fight against those with combat ability, Lirrah should be safe with her... probably.

"Ah... and if you like the pie so much, please do stop py the Matayannah Trading Company tent at home camp, and tell your friends. I am sure to put my nerves aside if we get more acquainted~ I really do appreciate your custom!"
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