"A friend in arms is a useful thing indeed, Ralak Nul. One never knows where a fight will lead, or what the night may bring. That, indeed, was a sentiment I picked up not so long ago from someone who had been very close to me, before the Orcs came. And I don't mean our good companions here... I mean, as we hear from their speech, both its topic and its tenor, it is clear that they are nothing to do with the approaching horde. To think differently would be a claim of ignorance, or willfulness. But the horde is a concern, and it is one we must answer. I have lost...
There is a pause in her speech, as she lifts her chin up, pointing it to the reach, opening her throat as if to sing, or perhaps to howl, though no sound emerges.
"I have lost more than I care to admit. But the land has lost more. The land is being violated... though usurped might be a better metaphor. One senses the urgency of the threat, and the fact that the danger will be met here. Not in this place particularly, but at this point in time. In the course of the events of our lives, of which you and I are perhaps more aware than our companions, Ralak Nul -- in the course of these events, we can see how much has focussed on these days, conspired to bring so many warriors to this remote dwarven outpost at precisely this time.
It is no accident. The land needs defending, and she has summoned her defenders. The orcs, and their goblinoid host can threaten the world, but the land will defend herself. And she will use us as her agents. But enough of that, now. I am pleased to have met all three of you, and I hope that our paths will cross again, and soon. One never knows where a fight will lead, or what the night may bring."
Gala has finished with her drink, even though a third of it remains. She has pushed it away, and is now on the edge of the cut stump that serves as a seat in this place. Her words are for the table: drow, halforc, halforc--the three she has found herself sitting among through the evening. And Michelle, whose presence had so filled the tavern that Gala struggled to tell which table she was at.
Gala didn't have that sort of personality, she knew. But now she was going for some air, and perhaps find a place for the evening. She stood, and made a hand gesture that she had hoped would provide a flourish to her monologue, a completing gesture that would leave a sure, confident impression on her companions. Unfortunately, outside of Gala's imagination, it looked like a small awkward wave from her elbow.
She exhaled and smiled and departed for the outdoors. As she emerged into the fresh evening air, she breathed in deeply, her arms reaching up to the sky, as if to increase her lung capacity. As she does so, she realizes how satisfied she is to be here, now.
She takes a few steps to the side of the building, and leaps into the air. when she comes down, her forepaws land first, and she continues to trot lightly along the street. She can hear more now, and she swishes her tail satisfied that her evening has been well spent.
She turns around to see if anyone is following her, but sees only the regular crowd of the city. The forest isn't far, and in a few minutes, she can feel the long grass beneath her belly, as she makes her way to a spot a few hundred yards into the woods. These had been her woods, once upon a time, but now they were no longer. She recognized them, and felt comfortable, but it wasn't home. The stump of an old tree provided all the shelter she would need tonight, and as she found it, she curled up against it, warming the ground beneath her, as she went to sleep.
