Sliver of Power 2.0 IC

[qwertyu63]

This is the IC thread for The Sliver of Power 2.0.

The rough location of the characters has already been established.

[Capt. Infinity]

Trade districts are always interesting. They're the melting pot of melting pots, every race, class, and creed staking their claims through stores, stalls, and shipments. Even now, at the cusp of dusk, the ebb and flow of merchantry showed no signs of stopping. The verve of the effervescent bazaar slowly faded away however, as one goes further to the edges of the city of Orzia, towards the docks. Here, it was less active trade and more passive collection. A nebulous zone of inaction, too far from the icy dockyard to be considered part of the loading and unloading sections, but not close enough to the commercial sections to merit much traffic. In theory this area was meant to house surplus exports as they are doled out to various retailers across the city. In practise however, this section of the this bustling semi-Arctic metropolis was more or less the breeding ground for illicit dealings, and a safe haven for the scum and villainy of the local populace. There were benefits to this arrangement, however. Having all the bad folk holed up in one area made it rather easy to track down any given gang of ruffians, and made it all the more easy for a set of spunky adventurers to seek heroism.

Well, that was the thought process of at least ONE of the people slowly walking up to an innocuous warehouse near the bayside. As they slowly advanced on the building, one of the adventurers, a tall Elven man with pitch black hair and strange purplish-green eyes, dressed in bright bardic clothes and wearing an altogether far too flamboyant feathered cap, speaks in what can only be described as a horrifically botched attempt at whispering. "See? What'd I say? 'A warehouse by the docks'. And what do we find? A warehouse NEAR the docks. That makes me, like, 95% correct right now. I fail to see why you keep doubting my instinct on these things Viv." As the strapping young elf by the name of Xiolanos turns his back towards the nearby warehouse, he gives a gleeful grin to his companions. Before him stands two female Elves of near polar opposite demeanour. To his left, a spindly young elf with waifish features and a frizzy mess of violet curls, currently tamed by both a bun, and a large hood covering the majority of the girls features. To his right, a massive brute of a woman (ESPECIALLY by Elf standards) carrying herself like she was about to piledrive the next person who looked at her funny, probably because she was and will. The Elven man spoke in a charismatic yet playful voice. "SO!" The man says, clapping his hands and rubbing them together for dramatic effect. "How do we wanna go about this? I vote 'loud and smash-y'. All in favour?" Xio asks, raising his hand in agreement with his own idea.

[asdflove]

"I still doubt this being a good idea." Vivian says icily, glancing around furtively in the area around the warehouse and idly pulls her cloak tightly around her shoulders. "But anything to get us back somewhere warm as quickly as possible will do." She sighs, her breath a visible mist in front of her. "Smashy isn't particularly my style-" She glances at the third elf. "Though it certainly is Qil's- but I can do firey if that works for you." She smirks slightly at Xio, before her face falls back to a forced neutral expression. She shivers again, really disliking colder weather- her homeland being near the equator and quite warm, especially compared to the icy air in Orzia. "Let us just hurry."

[Cool Trash]

Qil'Quarra rolled her hair into a bun,stuck it under her barbute helm. The metal was cold against her cheek, but it gave her comfort to know that it'd be much worse for the first person she headbutted. She hadn't been in a decent fight in two days, and despite there being water everywhere, there'd been none warm enough that she felt comfortable bathing in for almost a week. For now, her lips were chapped and the tunic under her vest clung to her skin and she was raring for some violence and a proper victory drink.

"Hmmm. A raid. That's...standard practice, actually, these days. Or once again, these days" When she'd started following these two around, she'd expected to be more of a bodyguard and less of a personal city watchman, but it really did end up mostly being investigation(well, "investigation") and arresting people for coppers who actually got a regular wage and a shiny knickknack. "Then again, that just gives me more incentive to act like the own the place, which I practically do, so why not?"

"Okay. I say you and me" She points to Xio, than herself. "Run in after Ms. Duskwalker tosses a fireball at the roof. They panic, run at us like idiots, get crushed. If their bosses are panicking from fire, they're less likely to hide and try and sneak past us or something. Lady Duskwalker stands by the door in case they still try something like that. After the fight's over, we collect our evidence and douse some magic water on the warehouse. If we're quick, the actual cargo in the place won't burn and we won't get run out of town." Intimidation, followed by violence, than justification via all the evidence you knew you would find. Standard copper procedure, barring the fire, mostly.

She blew back a strand of hair that had fallen out her helm onto her nose, practically an icicle at this point. She scowled."Or we will, and we can go someplace the sun hasn't forsaken."

[EclecticGuru]

It was a brisk day to be certain, but Finn wouldn't exactly call Queen Elaine's lovely city "Frigid" -- and certainly the lovely ladies of the region were anything but. No, today was a day of opportunity, and when opportunity came knocking, Finn was ... well, sneaking out the backdoor as usual, but only to circle around and get the drop on opportunity, unawares.

How Finn had gotten up on the roof was a simple matter -- it must have been laziness that caused the former residents of the warehouse to leave crates stacked up neatly beside the building -- in a way that was quite conducive to the pirate gaining access to the upper level. The gang that operated out of this place was a small time neighborhood organization, mostly intimidating local merchants for protection money, but they had stumbled on a big score and they were over their heads. They had gone looking for a buyer for the Baron's jewels, one of Finn's regular contacts, and the goods were just too hot for the fence to take. They needed to be transported to another market ... and Finn was just the man to do it.

Now, he could offer his services as a smuggler, but these guys clearly didn't have any professional ethics, and Finn didn't want to get entangled in a business relationship with them. That left Finn with only one choice.

To relieve the gang of the burden of their stolen goods, so that they could get back to the important business of shaking down the local taverns and craftsmen.

Finn quietly slipped down through the rooftop entrance, smiling at the perfection of his plan. As usual.


Create Advantage (Stealthy Rooftop Insertion) using the Sneaky (+1) Approach. [roll0]

[Capt. Infinity]

Xiolanos considers Qil's idea. "Hmmm... Not bad, not bad. Though I don't think the fire is the best idea. How about this? You and Vivian blow in the front door, Qil comes in through the smoke and confusion and starts busting heads while you, Vivian, cover the exit. And as for a distraction, I can do THIS!!!" Both women would likely be flabbergasted by the sudden not-being-in-front-of-them-anymore of Xio. Instead, the Elven thrill seeker was making a break for the docks at full tilt. Xio jumps off the edge of the dockyard, and for a moment it looks as though the Elf is going to dive headfirst into the icy waters, until he sort of... Misses it. Instead, Xio makes a seemingly impossible jump, over the bow of a nearby schooner, and spinning mid-air so he lands feet-first on the main sail. For a minute, it looks to be that he'll just snap either the sail or the mast of the ship in half with the sheer force of the impact. But somehow, the ship holds, its prow actually tilting up slightly before finally releasing the pent up tension, and sending Xio flying backwards, headlong into the massive windows along the upper front of the warehouse. As the window pane simply gives way (because of course it does) Xiolanos attempts to land in as dramatic a way as possible, attracting all eyes in his insane display of Dynamic Entry. As he stands, he gives the utterly flabbergasted thugs a patented "I'm going to punch you so hard you'll fly into another guy who will, in turn, fly into another guy"-smile. "Hellooo BOYS!"

Can this be a compel of my Trouble as well as an action? Regardless, this is a Flashy Create an Advantage, attempting to create the aspect "These thugs can't even right now" Roll: [roll0]

[asdflove]

Not even surprised by Xio's antics anymore, Vivian smiles as he makes his overly dramatic entrance. "Our turn now, I suppose." She murmurs, walking toward the door, her staff held tightly in hand. Taking a deep breath and pointing her staff she attempts to blow it open with blast of fire.

I'm not sure whether I should roll for blasting down the door or not. I will just in case so a flashy (+2) overcome to destroy a door, I guess. [roll0]

[Cool Trash]

Qil walks behind Vivianus as she approaches to the door, and drops to a crouch. "Lady Vivianus, once you got that thing open, I suggest yous step to the side."

"Okay. Warehouse raid time. There's one door. Someone's gounna be waiting by it-if there isn't these guys are so stupid I'll be doing them a favor knockin' their brains out."

She cracks her neck, wraps an iron chain around her left hand and smiles.

Qil'Quarra readies an action to charge and Forcefully Attack anyone who pops out from the side of the door. If there is no one standing near the door, this action is most likely wasted. [roll0]

[qwertyu63]

When the door breaks open, a bolt of lightning shoots out from the floor near the door; aimed at the door.

Whomever of Qil and Vivianus is standing in front will need to roll to Defend: [roll0] +2 (I don't add bonuses into the roll code).

Meanwhile, the thugs Xio dropped in on are rather flabbergasted at his appearance.

I'll call the aspect the more sensible "Flabbergasted", but that is a successful create an advantage. How successful remains to be seen: [roll1] -2.

EDIT: Very successful. Stylishly even.

[Capt. Infinity]

With the door blowing inward behind him, Xio takes this as his cue to begin wrecking some fools. And wreck fools he does, grabbing one of the thugs, a rather hairy fellow who, if not for his stature, Xio may have mistaken for a dwarf, and lifting him high into the air. "What'ya say fellas?" The Elven man says as he raises the 300-something pound man over his head with ease. "Hows about we get this party STARTED!?!" He shouts mightily, as he hurls the large brute at a small gathering of enemies, trying to knock as many unconscious as possible.

This is a Flashy Attack Action invoking both uses of "Flabbergasted" and splitting the shifts in order to knock out as many enemies as possible. Roll: [roll0]

[asdflove]

Noticing the magic seconds before the trap goes off Vivian attempts to throw up a mana shield to protect herself.

[roll0] +3 cleverly defending against the magic trap, since Viv was probably the one in front.

[qwertyu63]

The thugs attacked by Xio are all knocked out.

The lightning bolt shot at Vivian is deflected by her shield. There is a yellow rune glowing on the floor inside the door.

[EclecticGuru]

Finn made his way from the roof access down into the warehouse proper, keeping his eyes keen for the most likely cache of baronial jewels.

By the sound of things, someone was causing a diversion. Finn could only hope they weren't also here for the jewels. It did compel him to move a bit faster in search of the loot.

[Cool Trash]

Qil'Quarra dropped her chain at the sight of lightning repelling off the princess. ...Huh. That really shoulda...is my (pretty loose, ta be honest) understanding of science wrong, or is basic elemental magic wrong? She stuffed her chain back into her, stretched a leg out, and tried to make a slightly more polite cracking noise than normal, which was a thing she at least assumed was possible.

She turns to Vivianus. "Okay. This warehouse is pretty big, they've got at least one mage...I"ll go in, maybe a bit more carefully than normal. If I charge at someone, you can pretty much take it for granted that the place isn't loaded with runes, kay?" Or at least, I'll be the one taking the magical blowback if I'm wrong.Cost of doing business, really. Okay, start from the left, circle around...

Qil'Quarra rolls to Carefully Move into the unexplored rims of the warehouse, starting from the left and circling around. [roll0]+1.

[qwertyu63]

Her search of the outer rim of the warehouse reveals... a whole lot of boxes and one group of goons. They don't seem to have noticed you.

The lack of skill out in the outer rim suggests that the good stuff is deeper in.

Move isn't an action. With your good roll, I'll stick an "Unaware" aspect on the goons; you get a free invoke on it.

[Capt. Infinity]

After dispatching his foes in one fell swoop. Xio turns to give a double thumbs-up to Vivian, he then looks at the rapidly disappearing form of Qil'Quarra. "Hey, wait for me!" He shouts after her, climbing on top of the crates in order to make a more direct route to her location. When Qil stumbles upon the small group of mooks, any plans she would have had are suddenly dashed when Xio comes flying in from high up above in order to perform a straight-up body slam on the group of ruffians below.

"SURPRISE ATTACK!!!"

That invoke of "Unaware" makes this roll a [roll0] +5 in total.

[qwertyu63]

On the map, you were two zones away and therefore are too far away to get there that quickly. But whatever, you're there now.

Four of those mooks have been taken out. The remaining 4 mooks attack Xio.

I will combine them into two attacks.

Attack 1: [roll0]+2 (their native skill)+1 (from having help)

Attack 2: [roll1]+2 (their native skill)+1 (from having help)

[EclecticGuru]

Cap'n Ramsey eyed the area beneath the catwalks. Typically in a warehouse like this, not too far from the docks, there were hoisting ropes -- block tackle, hooks, all kinds of useful stuff to help handle heavy freight -- that should be dangling at various points below the second level. If he could find some in just the right place ....

Finn Ramsey is cleverly discovering the secret scene aspect: Perfectly Located Rigging.

[roll0] + 1 for his Clever approach.

Hmm. Maybe we're not close enough for the docks to worry about handling such heavy freight from the big ships ....

[Capt. Infinity]

As the mooks bore down on Xiolanos, it was utterly striking to the young Elf how utterly uncoordinated they all were. They flung themselves around like cheap marionettes, and had equivocal effectiveness in combat. Two of the men attempted a joint tackle on Xio, but it did little to phase the swashbuckling Elf as he quite literally batted the two aside like flies in his face. One of the jokers actually had the audacity to attempt to wrestle Xio to the floor, but was summarily terrified when the seemingly scrawny Elf met the thug's armlock with more than sufficient force. As Xio threw the man to the floor, he couldn't help but chuckle a little. "What, seriously? Is this really ALL the retaliation the lot of you can muster-"
*WHAM*
Xio was suddenly cut off as the last mook, who had managed to sneak behind the magic warrior as he wrestled with his cohort, swung a two-by-four piece of wood, straight at the back of the Elf's head, the board shattering from the impact. Wasn't the attacker surprised when, instead of crumbling to the floor in unconsciousness, as by all logic Xio should have done, the Battle-Mage instead spun on his heels and faced the would-be dirty fighter with a monstrous killing glare. "...Everybody gets ONE. And I assure you, you WILL NOT get another." Now, Xio couldn't be sure, but he was fairly certain from smell alone that one of the enemy combatants had just wet themselves.

Currently rocking the negative Boost, Just a Scratch. Booyah.

[Cool Trash]

Qil wondered if maybe she should regret not just charging in. Not charging in directly tended to end like, well, this. Then again, Xio was in many respects like one of those raccoons mages summoned if they suspected someone had trapped a hallway. Trying to outrun him both defeated his purpose and was inherently moronic. "Well, guess there's nothing to do now, but hope these guys didn't lay a suicide bomb rune down."

She broke out into a sprint, no chain this time, nothing but her fists, her ice cold helm and the vast amounts of surplus goods waiting to be tested against the strength of her opponent's spine. "Best avoid the one that just peed on himself..."




Qil charges and Forcefully Attacks the man farthest from Xio, jumping on their side and forcing them facefirst into the nearest crate.[roll0]+5

[asdflove]

"No, no, no, it's fine, run off without me..." Vivian scoffs, and starts to follow Qil and Xio. Staff ready in her hand to attack as she approaches, her hands fall to her sides and she scowls, seeing that Qil and Xio already took out all the mooks. "Well then."

[Capt. Infinity]

Xio was... Noticeably surprised when the man he'd just threatened was unceremoniously decked across the face with a random piece of shattered wood plank from somewhere to the left. Turning to inspect the ground-zero of this supposed box-explosion, the young Elf was both very surprised and not at all surprised to see Qil'Quarra, having somehow managed to simultaneously tackle THREE of the thugs into a series of crates so hard that the mere shrapnel of the impact took out the last mook. Xio echoed Vivian's statement. "'Well then' indeed. That was... Rather anticlimactic actually. I was honestly expecting more. Here's hoping there's more where these guys came from!" Xio stated gleefully. "Ah, but first..." The young sentient Elven Fist Tornado turned to face a particularly high stacking of boxes and crates, calling out to some unseen entity.

"Hey Finn! You can come down now! Don't worry, it's your old pal Xiolanos! And I brought friends!" The Elven prince addresses his comrades with a bombastic wave of his hand. "Come introduce yourself!" He asks, motioning for the unseen figure to come join the rest of the group.

[EclecticGuru]

Finn was taking a silent inventory of what was in the crates. He wasn't here to fight. He was here to get the baronial crown jewels. And unfortunately, these guys must have hidden them somewhere. Under a floorboard, behind a secret door, something like that, because he wasn't finding them.

The sounds of brawling had ceased and Finn was disappointed because that meant that whichever side won would be ...

Ah, there it was.

He stepped out from behind the half-opened crate he was searching and smiled.

"Oh. I .. uh. Just took out three guys back here. It's been a long time, Xio. Oh, and you know Qil too. Small world. Still chasing bounties, Qil?"

[asdflove]

Vivian sighs. "You mean to tell me that there's someone else here and you know them personally?" She says flatly before Finn comes over, and forces herself to smile at him as he does, though it comes out very awkward. "Oh, and He knows Qil too. Delightful." Her tone is very strained, and she takes a deep breath and holds out a hand towards Finn. "Being that I am apparently the only one here who has not met you previously, I should introduce myself. You can call me Vivian."

[Cool Trash]

Qil steadies herself. Bloodlust was a hell of a drug-legal, too, depending on the dealer. She took a deep breath, let it all just wash over her, smiled, and let her hair down. Hell, she took the helmet off and stuffed it in her bag. These guys weren't much of a danger to her type.

And then she was shook awake by a comment from...that guy. "It's...him. The pirate guy. With the ship. Right. We're in a port, and he's probably stealing things, and...should I try to-no, he knows Xio. Plus, that big maximum security prison didn't hold him. He's not my problem and I already got my daily dose of Vitamin V. Alright. You're with royalty. Do the polite thing."

"Yeah, I met up with 'im before, my L-" Qil just barely stops herself. "Little Missy. This is the, uh, roguish and daring pirate captain...Finley." She goes up to him and slaps him on the shoulder, than gives him a little shake. "Me and him took down a corrupt governor a while back. Broke him out of prison. So...doing some petty theft? Or are there a couple fair maidens in these crates I don't know about?" She winks at him.

[Capt. Infinity]

Xiolanos raised an eyebrow at Qil's semi-legitimate explanation, as she clearly has forgotten a decent portion of what happened between her and Finn (which was surprising, given that people like Finn and Xio tend to stick in the minds of those they meet, for better or for worse). He did, however, speak up when Qil'Quarra begin questioning the Pirate Captain's reasons for being here. "Actually, I was wondering that as well. What exactly brings the Captain of a sailing vessel to a warehouse in the shadiest part of the dockyard?" The Elven prince asks, quizzically.

[EclecticGuru]

"It's Finn. Captain Finn." Finn said to Vivian and Qil with a smile. He took a moment to appreciate Qil with her hair let down. Quite a delightful turn of events, if his expression was any indication.

"And Vivian," he turned his attention to the noble elven woman, "I agree that it is quite a crime that you and I are the only ones here to not know each other personally. We should remedy that as soon as possible." If you know what I mean. It went without saying, but it was probably pretty well understood.

"And Xio, you know how my skin burns. I have no choice but to stick to the shade."

[Capt. Infinity]

".........Alright, where is it? And how much treasure are we talking here?" Xio asked, unfazed by Finn's excuse. You learn to read people when you spend extended periods of time with them out at sea. And right now, he could read Finn like a book. He WOULD normally be warning Finn that Vivian wasn't the kind of girl to fall for anyone with a personality even within the same Kingdom as Xio's. But Viv was a grown Elf, she could deal with a little misguided flirtation.

[asdflove]

"Greetings to you Captain Finn." She blinks several times, then snickers after realizing she was being flirted with. "Oh no. No no no. No. She chuckles again. "So what's this about treasure?"

[Cool Trash]

Having done the polite thing and have it go exactly as she expected it to, Qil decided it was best to inspect what exactly it was she had just rendered not fit for sale. Vivian could handle herself, and she seemed to have cottoned onto Finn without needing too many hints from her. Qil honestly found it hard to tell how perceptive the girl was in terms of social graces. She wasn't stupid, obviously; fine elven breeding, years of royal education and whatnot-but she spent a worrisome amount of time hiding her nose in a book.

In any case, she walked back to the pile of wooden shrapnel, pulled any unconscious mooks out of it, and took a quick gander at their contents. Remembering herself, she also stops to take the pulse of the four men, and makes sure their necks aren't broken-she hadn't actually planned on killing any of them, mind. Weren't worth the penalty on her soul, among other things.

[EclecticGuru]

At Vivian's multiple-no shootdown, Finn just shrugged. "Yes, your right, we should just keep it impersonal for now. You can no more rush an intimate friendship than you can a fine wine." And he smiled with a crook of the corner of his mouth. "We'll just revisit this topic in the future when its more appropriate."

Then his attention was affixed to Xio. "I'm here to serve the community, Xio. I don't know why everything has to come with a price tag with you. The guys that run this warehouse stumbled across something they're neither prepared to deal with, nor comprehend the danger it puts them in. I'm just here to relieve them of that onerous burden, and whisk it away to another, safer, port of call where it can be disposed of without anyone getting hurt."

He paused for a moment, watching what Qil was up to, before looking back to Xio. "Mother Ramsey always said -- Build up, don't tear down. And that's always been my motto too. I'm all about service."

[Capt. Infinity]

"Uh huh, sure. Let's go with that Finn." Xiolanos says, rather unconvinced by the pirate Captain's plea. "If it bothers no one, I think I'm going to go check out the rest of the warehouse. Feel free to follow. As a matter of fact, please do! It's always more fun to beat up thugs when you do it as a team building exercise!"

And with that, Xio headed forward. Ever further into the enclave of thieves.

Heading forward into the purple area, where I'm sure there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF IMPORTANCE IS WAITING FOR ME. :smalltongue:

[asdflove]

"So you are here to steal something they stole and sell it elsewhere better than they could? Understood." She pauses. "And no. We shan't be revisiting that topic. Ever."

She chuckles at Xio and follows him.

[EclecticGuru]

"Shant? Who says shant? Is that even a word ... ? Wait. Which topic aren't we revisiting? We're not talking about the re-liberation of improperly owned goods again, ever? This is going to make things awkward between us. Not only because I'm going to feel limited in my topics of professional interest, but also because you have appointed yourself the dictator of all that is shall and all that is shant."

He drew his trusty cutlass and proceeded as well.

"I mean, not as awkward as that time when I found out Qil was thinking about leaving me in that prison ... but plenty awkward nonetheless!"

[qwertyu63]

Tucked away behind a wall of boxes, Xio finds a flight of stairs down.

Those trained in the arcane arts would be wise to activate their sight right now.

[Capt. Infinity]

Hmmm... Now this is interestiWHOAH!" Xiolanos gasped, as his casual scan using The Sight revealed the ludicrous wellspring of power emanating from the catacombs below. It was almost as if the basement were made of magic for all the power it seemed to hold. "Uhhhhhh, guys? Wouldn't want to trouble any of you, but I'm picking up a level of magic coming up from down those steps the likes of which I've never SEEN. Whatever's down there, it's far more magically attuned than just a simple enchanted artifact... Let's go check it out!" And thus, apropo of nothing, Xio the Elven Adventurer ran off down the corridor, expecting his friends to follow suit.

[asdflove]

"Shan't is the contraction of Shall and Not." She sighs. "And I was referring to you attempts at flirting with me previously."

Vivian closes her eye for a moment to check for herself, and they shoot open with a gasp from her, and she cant help but stagger backwards in shock a moment. "Wow." She blinks several times and follows her friend down the stairs.

[EclecticGuru]

Captain Ramsey does not run unless he's being chased. It's a rule.

However, he did follow Xio and Vivian with all due smoothness, and a bit of a swagger.

"Flirting, in my culture, is a ...." The Privateer noted that Vivian seemed more interested in whatever magical nonsense Xio had mentioned than in anything he had to say.

"We shall table that topic, as well ... until some more appropriate time."

[qwertyu63]

Down the staircase, you find... an empty hallway. You hear slight noise down around a corner. The magical energy is stronger down here; the Sight is blinded by it.

[Cool Trash]

Great. Magic crap. Lots of it, apparently. Qil definitely wasn't going in first on this one-she didn't know how to counter magic the way an actual mage would, and she'd be damned if she'd put herself between two separate lightning bolts. Still...it'd help to have a bit of forward planning...

"Guys. Hold on one sec." Qil ran to the nearest door, grabbed it by it's side, and began pulling. "If it's another lightning bolt, the metal on the hinges attracts the bolt, the wood burns, I drop the door. Fire, got a couple of seconds to charge the mage before the door actually ignites. Anything else...Eh, I got wood between me and it."

"Also, Finn; I've dipped my toe in your culture. No one ever washes, everyone's faces are chapped to hell and half the cultural dishes are pickled-pirates don't have much right to claim anything in the way of being romantic-like."

(Pull-Out-the-Door-Style-Defense)Qil tries to Forcefully pull the door off it's hinges, in order to create a temporary makeshift tower shield. [roll0]+3

[EclecticGuru]

Finn held on for a second, as indicated by Qil.

He also withstood Qil's criticism of his culture, even though he had suggested that they table such a discussion for a more appropriate time. He sighed a bit and shrugged his shoulders. It was clear that he himself was well-enough groomed -- perhaps only a day or two away from the last cleaning -- and just a few weeks past when he should have had his hair cut.

His features, while some might call them weathered, others would see as ruggedly handsome with a healthy tan -- someone who knew the value of hard work.

"If you hadn't just put the image of your pickled toes into my mind, I'd be happy to demonstrate to you what romance is all about."