"Five hundred coins to clean the latrines?"
Their party member seemed a bit incredulous at Ravyn's news though Caress nodded.
"They are quite... advanced in their..." her nose crinkled in visible distaste, "...state of decay."
"Larry seemed resigned to the news himself," Ravyn commented. "Which matches with what we've seen so far. Things unrepairing themselves. The disease and poison that Caress sensed in the kitchen..."
"Disease and poison which you said did not touch any of the food," Mythram noted directing her attention to Caress.
"Correct," she confirmed. "Nor was he willing to leave the tavern for sort of break or companionship. He spoke of a time when his son was cooking for them."
"I found some more about that," the rogue noted. "Larry's sons left the tavern and encountered... "
'Bad luck?"
"Not so much bad luck as it was that they were no longer blessed. If you've lived your entire life with divine fortune then normal luck feels bad to you. Something protects this place, there's marks here warning thieves away."
"I have to admit that I didn't think to ask about the tavern during my visit to the local chapter of the Order of the Gauntlet.
"How did that go by the way?"
 |
| Meeting at Sad Larry's |
"Welcome, it is always good to meet new chevalls."
The leader of the local chapter was a follower Mystra, not the usual religion Caress thought of with regard to the order, but then again, neither was her own faith.
"Thank you, I hope to do what I can to fan the sparks of life and joy," she smiled and bowed politely.
"It is definitely impressive that you have managed to get past your natural proclivities and limited education."
Caress and the branch leader turned to look at the burly speaker sporting, predictably, a symbol of Helm proudly upon his armor.
"My... natural proclivities?"
"Yes, your, errr...."
"I fairly certain he means your yuan-ti heritage."
"Yes, I thought that might be it. And... may I ask, what do you think my education entailed?"
The man stuttered momentarily. "Oh, well, you know, a typical festhall education. You know...with... I'm sure you could explain it so much better."
"Well, certainly," she responded. "At first, I must admit that I struggled the gap between my emotional experience and that of... the majority of our supplicants. When I was an initiate I had to spend many hours in observation guided by one of the courtesans. It has left me a bit lighter in my knowledge of anatomy and medicine than most courtesans, but my lady's blessings bridge that gap, and I dare say that it gives me an edge in navigating the comfort zones of my supplicants..."
The man shuffled in nervous embarrassment as she spoke, until he heard mention of "anatomy" and "comfort zones" and the onlookers saw a smug, judgmental smirk come over his face.
"And can you tell me about how you... you said... navigate? These comfort zones?"
"Of course I can."
 |
| What do you think my education consists of? |
----
"I spent the next fifteen minutes discussion minutia of emotional well-being, consent, cooperative therapy, and conversational companionship."
"You... didn't talk about rope-binding or massages or the like?"
"No, of course not. I stuck to whichever topics would be of least interest to a militant inquisitor. Though I will admit that the other present Gauntlets found the situation most entertaining."
"Well, we've got some business coming heading for the Bloated Bounty coming up. Hopefully, we can pick up information on Sad Larry's situation along the way."
Caress nodded and paused, blinking deliberately.
"What else did you forget?"
"I was going to speak to the Gauntlet commander about the boy, perhaps get the other gauntlets to stop trying to exorcise the dog. I shall try to handle that in the meantime."
"Perhaps handle that later, are you staying here?"
Caress blinked twice and then shook her head. "I wold like to help Larry, but I'll be spending the night at Moonstone Mask."
"What's that?" Ravyn asked.
"One of the premier festhalls in the city," Caress responding. "Very secure. A lot of aristocrats attend. I can arrange a room for you if you like."
"No thank you," Ravyn said. "It's less about being secure than it is about being woken up by a rich asshole singing at 3 am."
"Ahh, fair point.
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