The Summer heat makes it difficult for me to think straight. Anyone I'm writing with should expect regular delays on my end until the temperature goes down.
"By Deep Sashelas, Are you deaf?! Let me try speaking louder for you: We! Said! NO! NOW! GET! LOST!" Came Cascade's angry answer.
"My my... so quick to decline an offer so generous?" Mar'a'gan mused in response. "At least hear the terms first."
"Little buddy does appear to have some hearing issues, perhaps he only hears what he wants to hear, don't you know making deals with genie and genie kin is just as bad as making deals with devils?" An annoyed Aura spoke up then. "Perhaps we like the challenge and don't want an easy way out. But please, do tell what is the supposed deal, what on this and every other plan do you think we would trade our souls for? Hmm? And remember dear imp, tread lightly, I am well versed in making deals and bargains with otherworldly beings."
"You think I'm the one that will make this deal?" Mar'a'gan asked in confusion before chuckling to himself and shaking his head. "Of course you do. I have never been all that good at explaining these things. You will not be making this deal with me. It is my master you will bargain with."
"Anyone who wants any more of this ale better get some now."
"Surprisingly, Jørmund, my stance on drinking has not changed since the last time you asked me,"
"A master I should get to summoning." Mar'a'gan said, the implications of Jørmund's words and actions finally unnerving the imp. The tiny fiend clapped his hands twice then, causing a scroll to appear floating mid air in front of him in a whoosh of flame. The scroll unfurled with a gesture from the imp. Six seconds of infernal chanting later, a fiery portal sparked into being five feet away from the stump upon which Mar'a'gan stood.
Through this portal stepped a woman. The woman appeared human but possessed a preternatural beauty with ivory skin, long flowing light-brown hair, and golden eyes. She was clad in an elegant red dress and a held a dainty red parasol with her left hand. The woman's eyes swept across the party, pausing briefly over each member, before finally coming to rest on Rala. "An impressive find, Mar'a'gan." The woman spoke then to the imp though her eyes never left Rala, or more specifically the bracer that Rala possessed. "You will be well rewarded for this."
"Thank you, master." Mar'a'gan said with a deep bow.
The woman then took a single step forward towards the party and curtseyed like a courtly noble. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances, Adventurers." She said. "Madam Souise. That is my name. And I would like to offer you so much in exchange for so little." Madam Souise righted herself from her curtsey before continuing. "I understand that a vast raiding expedition from the Northlands will soon descend upon the Southern Coast. You go now to defend a small port town from this threat. I however could do so for you with a swiftness and efficiency far grater than any mortal efforts may endeavor to achieve. All I ask for in return is that finely crafted wooden bracer that rests upon your companion's wrist."
With Zephyr only a crested hill away, Cascade was close enough to the ocean to hear the sound of the waves as a distant hiss. But then that hiss didn't seem so distant anymore. As Madam Souise introduced herself and made her offer, the hiss became like a quiet whisper in Cascade's ear, accompanied by the far off sound of dolphin calls. Cascade knew this as Deep Sashelas's preferred way of communicating with her in the waking world. It seemed that her prayer had been heard after all. But something was off. Cascade only received a handful of barely audible words rather than a short yet complete and coherent message like she usually did.
"Mar'a'gan Sdrawkcab... Madame Souise... She's called Master..."
Hey guys! I just remembered that the Incorrect Quotes Generator exists.
Stargaze: I never tell people off the bat that I'm an Orphan. I wait. I wait until they say some Orphanophobic stuff and then I laugh and am like "you know I'm an Orphan right?" and watch the look of terror on their face. Skobeloff: Skobeloff: I like you.
"WOO!" Jenk yelped in shock while stumbling back slightly as the fire singed his eyebrows. After taking a moment to recover, Jenk looked out at the canal of fire he had created through this act of arson. "...Wow." The goblin whispered in wonder. Though he wasn't as enthusiastic about fire as goblins with more extreme pyromaniacal tendencies, Jenk still appreciated a good bit of watching the world burn when the opportunity presented itself.
"You did it!" Ms. Pi's shout pulled Jenk from his admiration before the boat began to move again.
"Jenk did it?" The goblin asked, the words taking a moment longer than usual to run through the part of his brain dedicated to translating the other languages he knew into goblin. Once the process was complete though, and excited grin lit up his face even brighter than the flames that surrounded the boat. "Jenk did it!" Jenk cried out then before breaking out into a merry victory dance accompanied by a fit of triumphant cackling as the water taxi sailed through the fire. Once the flames began to flicker out and the boat made it out the other side, Jenk calmed down and returned to his seat.
"EEP!" The goblin exclaimed then as he felt himself sit down on something that decidedly wasn't a bench.
Jenk leapt to his feet and turned around to see a coin purse sitting where he had just tried to sit. "Hey longshanks. This your shiny promise bag?" Jenk asked Ms. Pi while gesturing towards the coin purse. "If yes, maybe not keep it on seat? Very unpleasant surprise for inattentive sitters."
"Jenk have better idea." Jenk said as he produced his flint and steel. "Clarion say poop gas also burny gas. Jenk light burny poop gas to burn the poop!" With that said, Jenk moved over to where the blockage was and set to work on igniting the sewer gas around the top of the refuse.