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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 7949212" data-attributes="member: 1210">What was that about switching focus?Some two weeks earlier, Kevan the Sharp plays a witty song in the Wall Café. He has the crowd captivated. They hang on his every word, swaying with the rhythm of his rhymes. His tunes are sharp and quick, his lyrics dramatic and clever, his wit evident. Among the crowd, a woman draws almost as much attention as he does- his sister, Lavendoula. Part of the reason for the eyes on her is her sheer charisma, but there is more: there is a story about her. An angel descended, called her by name, gave her an instant legend then and there before she had even done anything. It happened in the city, in the middle of the day, in front of witnesses. There is something special about her.The place is crowded. Groups of people are forced to share tables with strangers in order to accommodate the mass of folks in the place. The aroma of bean juice fills the air, mixed with the sweat of the dancers and the smell of pipe smoke. At Lavendoula’s table, an expressionless young human male dressed in a gi in the style of the Pan Lung School is wrist wrestling with a cold-eyed tiefling woman wearing the sha shi of the Manticore Monastery. Beside the woman, a bony human man in a midnight robe tries not to roll his eyes at their antics. He is her friend; the Pan Lung monk is her rival.Sitting languidly, smiling prettily, a dark-haired human woman with a whip coiled at her side sips her coffee. Through long eyelashes, she watches for a pocket to pick. She’s pretty sure that it’s not going to be one of the people she is sitting with that produces a big payoff. Monks? Pah. Not likely. And the grim-looking fellow has the air of a spellcaster about him. Best to be safe. She glances to her left, where a bored-looking elf sporting a green mohawk sits before an empty cup. “What did you say your name was?” she asked.“I didn’t,” he sniffs, “but it’s Praxis.”“I’m Danielle,” the woman replies. She wants to add, Queen of Thieves, but she knows just how pretentious that would be at this point.“I am Edward,” the robed man intones. “My friend here is Verena.”“Call me V,” the tiefling growls as the two monks, score evened up, disengage their wrists.“And I am Hajime,” says the Pan Lung monk.Lavendoula introduces herself as Kevan’s set ends, and adds, “This is my brother, Kevan,” as the bard joins the table. The two half-elves look strikingly alike.“I see you’ve found some… company, sister,” Kevan says, looking the group over with a dubious eye.“Hey, everyone has to sit somewhere, “ Danielle replies with a grin.“Speaking of which…” a new voice says, and a small hand lands on Danielle’s arm. “Hi, Danielle!”“Oh, hi, Shelby!”The newcomer is a halfling woman, brown haired and slender, with large eyes and long fingers. She is one of Danielle’s friends, and better still, a fellow member of the Smoke Fades, the city’s thieves’ guild. “Mind if I join you? I’ll buy a round of bean juice.”The group gladly accepts Shelby’s generous offer. (Bean juice costs a full guinea a cup; it’s a fairly extravagant expense.) Danielle eyes her curiously. “You must have had a bit of luck recently.”“Sure did!” Shelby grins at her. “Do you know about Marble Hall?”Edward says, “The megadungeon?”  “The same. I just got back from a trip in. We had some pretty good luck. I mean, yeah, we had to fight some orcs, but we managed to pull through without any losses. And we got some decent loot.”“How much?” Danielle asks.“Plenty.”Shelby sits with the group for only a few minutes, then heads off “to take care of some errands” (which Danielle mentally translates into pay the guild its cut). After she leaves, the group begins to talk about the megadungeon. While not all are motivated by the prospects of wealth, each of them does see one or more reasons to go in- be it treasure, knowledge, money to help the orphans, to slay monsters to protect the city, or simple hatred of orcs.Thus forms another party of adventurers, agreeing to meet on the morrow to head in to Marble Hall.</blockquote>

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