Pathfinder Chronicles IC thread (CLOSED)

[Razgriz]

The Grand Arena of Surr, as it's called began as a pit of dirt and a circle of tents in the middle of nowhere, where people would bring slaves to donate or sell, in order to get rid of them when nobody else would take them. Some find profit in a place like this, from black market deals and sale of more exotic, stronger animals and people that would serve as entertainment. Once the owners of this combined business started to take off - long before you all arrived here, they began construction of the colleseum; a grand structure planned by skilled and well-payed artitects to make something that would last for centuries. Hired work and slaves alike worked hard on stone blocks, ten years in the making while communities began to spring up around it to support its new developing infrastructure. Now at the height of its success, brothels, shops, markets and homes have all grown around it with a central path leading to the colossal structure, centering it all.

And then you arrive. Not all at once, some have been here longer than others, afterall, but you seven are relatively new-comers, arriving in the right time to really shine as the 'first' famous gladiators this arena has produced. Each of you have had your own, individual success, but you shine when you're put together - entertaining the crowd that began as a dwindle and has grown into a stadium of cheers. Even nobility attend on occasion, to view your prowess. Whatever you were before, that is gone now. All you have now is the fuel of cheers and adrenaline of combat. And your final fight draws near, marked on your walls is each of your victories and spoils in your resting chambers have been good. Until today really, when a uniform was presented to you to wear. You may recognize it as an old, extinct garb of a smaller nation that was conquered and enveloped in the Surr kingdom - you're tasked with a Death Match on the expected losing side? This didn't bode well. You'd know from previous fights, when one side was 'expected' to lose, the deck was stacked against them. Against you.

The battle of Pyran Plain, one older servor would explain to you. He was a bit of a history enthusiast, as he leant on his broom and muddled through the basic jist of it all. Centaurs charged a garrison and overran them, pretty decisive victory due to the lack of horses-- rather horse legs on one side, while the other was a more traditional force, shields and swords. A couple of spears. You're thankful they don't have any Centaur slaves they have demonstrated, though you wonder if they have some recently aquired that might be the reason for this fight. So, with the battle only hours away and warmup shows getting the audience ready, the seven of you are left in what is akin to a dressing room, to talk amongst yourselves and decide what to do, if anything. Uniforms, weapons and shields are supplied in leu of your normal equipment; to make you look like an organised force, enough for each of you and then some. At least you had a sizable breakfast this morning. And it looks like they haven't really cleaned up the place, so if you're quick you might be able to get a few things they normally wouldn't let you have. Eitherway, this is now your moment.

(Available equipment: Daggers, Heavy Maces, Spears, Slings, Gladius'es, Heavy Wooden Shields, Falchion, Uniform, Armoured Kilt, Leather Light Armour, Hide Medium Armour. Rope (hemp), One Dilluted healing potion each (1d8+1))

((OOC thread: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=53401 ))

[Bright]

Jon Stalwart was a human man in his prime, though he originally had arrived from another country he had soon adapted to the current one. He had been wimp when he arrived, but the battles of the arena had soon toughened him up. Granted, there had been the occassional concussion and it was rarely he escaped a battle without a wound, but he was getting better at it.

Still, there was something that didn't feel right about the current situation.
"Do you suppose they're getting bored of us?" He mused, the question not actually directed at anyone in particular.
The crowd seemed to relish in bloodshed after all, he thought to himself, as long as it was not their own.

He thought about what to go for when it came to oncoming battle.
The uniform, Hide Medium Armour, Spear and a Heavy Wooden Shield seemed like a good combination that would work against mounted enemies.

[sansuki]

Kay was, as before every fight, a ball of energy that couldn't stay seated, couldn't stay in one place, but bounced from place to place with her fur-covered legs flexing to a beat only she could hear- though accompanied by the staccato clopping of her own hooves on the stone. She'd already gone through and 'personalized' her uniform with a knife, cutting out some of the fabric around her midriff so she could show off where skin became chocolate-brown fur; the odds of a blow landing there were remote enough that the extra "crowd engagement" from looking stylish made for a viable trade for the faun.

"Fuck 'em!" Kay blurts, bounding past the human and doing an impromptu drum solo on the wall next to the bars. "Gladiators are an example and threat to the lower classes, and the aristocracy can't allow any such examples to thrive beyond their station, man! They wanna fight us until we die, then send in some other saps to take our place. Just meat for the machine!" She laughs, nastily. "Got hooves myself, can't wait to see if they've got real centaurs or not. Wouldn't mind getting myself around a 'taur," she leered- finishing off her songs with a large meal was an ending to a fight that both Kay and her appreciative audience found difficult to resist. Hopping up, she stands on a bench, stretching. "Bada-bada-bada-bada-baaa baaaaaa," she hums to herself under her breath, getting herself in the right frame of mind to fight. She usually plunged into the thick of a group of enemies with reckless abandon, fighting like a berserker save only that she never attacked one of her 'fellow slaves'- the ones on her own side, at least.

(Sheet is in OOC~ Getting a gladius, hide armor, and wood shield)

[Netjak]

Though even Nilia found the sudden lack of most of the luxuries that came with wealth uncomfortable, a part of her had relished the change of scenery and being plunged into life or death combat. One thing was prowling through the forest, turning the predators of sheep, cattle and goats into prey themselves, but facing other sapient combatants, knowing that the life of one party would be extinguished at the end of it was the ultimate thrill. Humanoids were the ultimate game, after all! And this current situation they found themselves in was something else as well, just the thought that some scared, bureaucratic pansy was trying to send them to their death against superior odds both made her blood boil, and her eyes sparkle with excitement. Wether she lived or died, she would be glad for the battle that was going to be had today!

With a couple of spears bundled up in her girthy, thickly scaled coils, Nilia was quite calmly sharpening their tips to perfection, as she thought through the battle to come, and the strategy she would try to employ. With the chatter of her allies almost going over her head, the naga tossed one comment at Jon, simply stating, "They are getting scared of us, and the crowd we are drawing.", while watching Kay's energetic, pre-battle 'hymn' with a small, gleeful smile. The little girl's bravery was to be admired, that was for sure!

Having been quick to grab and don her armour, wooden shield, heavy mace, as many spears as was available, and reluctantly the uniform as well, Nilia was just calmly waiting for the start of the engagement, sharpening her weapons and wits, as well as making a form of rudimentary bind to hold her spears on her back, with some of the rope she grabbed for herself.

[Menyra]

After having gotten the basic gist of the situation they have now found themselves in, Brelia puts on the uniform that she had been provided (that she suspects would be a required component in their upcoming fight). Once it's been put on, the feline steps a little ways away from the others and tests her range of motion, both by kicking her legs as high as she can, and by swinging her arms in circles and in every which direction; if she ever found any place where her movement was restricted, she'd take a knife to the uniform and make the appropriate cuts to fix that particular issue. Once that's done, she goes back and joins the rest of her fellow gladiators.

"I'm more worried about the nature of the battle itself, rather than whether or not we're supposed to be on the losing side," she says, looking just a little dejected. Normally she's fairly excited for these things, but this time, something seems to have gotten this kitty down. "This is meant to be a handily won battle for one side. Which means there's hardly any room for 'love on the battlefield' improv." Welp, that explains it. In the arena, Brelia is well-known for playing out the scenes where two former enemies fall in love among the chaos of war. Well, that and ending such trysts with her gulping down her chosen 'partner'.

Looking at the available equipment, she swaps out her studded leather armor with a set of hide armor (thinking she ought to get as much of an advantage as she can get), and also equips a spear. It's not quite the spell-casting equipment she wants, but given how things are playing out, she'll need the spear for cavalry-slaying if it comes to it.

(Got uniform, Medium Hide Armor, and a spear).

[Jermayan]

Looking at the gear options with some distaste, Lensea is absentmindedly wrapping and re-wrapping the leather bindings she wears over her hands and wrists; a clear sign that she's more than a little preoccupied with the fight to come. Eventually she sighs and pulls a spear and shield off the rack, acknowledging the reality of the situation of the impending cavalry battle. Similarly to Kay, she'd taken a knife to the provided uniform as well, although her modifications had been just to remove the sleeves and slit the sides down most of the length of the shirt to give her more range of motion with her arms.

Smirking at Kay's outburst, she moves over to the exit into the arena proper and leans against the wall nearby. "Damn straight. We all know what the audience thinks of us, but there's no better way to ensure a capacity crowd than to put the crowd favorites at risk, and it lets them maybe get rid of some too-popular fighters at the same time. That said, I'm never going to say no to an opportunity to ruin some overconfident bookie's month and get a good meal in the process." Twirling the spear in her hand experimentally, the gives the others a wide grin. They hadn't fought with each other much, and almost never all at the same time, but there was one tradition that almost all of the veteran fighters in the barracks regularly indulged in. "On that note, standard bets for first and last kill, or did you all want to up the ante a bit for such a...noteworthy fight?"

[Zephyr42]

Adriaan Kloett doesn't really talk to anyone. Instead, he's just off in the corner juggling rocks he'd managed to mark with chalk and occasionally grunting at what people have to say. He'd gotten his own stuff already: a set of leather armor, two spears (a spare just in case he broke one), six daggers, and two cases of sling bullets (he fully intended to be out of the melee). Once again, he direly missed his billy clubs. They had been taken away when he was arrested, replaced with much more lethal weapons that he initially loathed but had grown to accept. Eventually, he'd find his way out, and he'd make the arena suffer.

Today, though? That didn't look overly likely. He scowls as he thinks that all of the lives he'd taken may have all been for nothing. Not all of them, but he'd had to kill more than he liked. Elia Summerset, the golden-haired elf. Rhone Crackwall, a dwarf missing an eye. Mahlia, Matut, and Fildog the Triumphant Orc Triplets. He remembered them all. Even as he improvised some buffoonery in his matches, he still resolved to pay his debts to their families in whatever way he could. If he got the chance.

He catches his rocks and sets them in his pocket. "I'll take that bet," he says in a thick accent. As he walks over to Lensea, he starts to smile, twirling one of his daggers in his hand. "I'll wager one gold shiny each that," he points to Kay, "the Beligerant Bard trips on her way into the ring," he points to Brelia, "Doctor Tease gets smacked in the crotch by a sling bullet," he points to Jon, "Captain Cutup gets smacked in the head again, umm..." he points at Nilia with a small bow, "Princess Nilia gets caught in a dogpile," he points to Lensea, "you lose at least one of those bindings, and you..." he points at Irice, "...well, I'll think of something later." Then he straightens up. "And I'll wager another seventy that everyone makes it out of here alive. Anyone who doesn't make it can collect in person."

[sansuki]

"There's always time for love to bloom on the battlefield," Kay laughs, still drumming against the wall. "Just means you might have to wait until the fight's pretty much won and make that the big finish, y'know? May not be able to do anything in the heat of the fight, but you usually don't while it's in doubt anyway, way I see it. " She tries sitting down for a few minutes- she really does- but unable to tolerate the strain of staying still the faun hops back up and stands on the bench again, tapping her hooves. "No bets here! Especially not gonna bet on myself for first kill, because I'm going to be busy singing for you all and the audience, make sure you're feelin' the vibes of the whole shebang. Last kill, maybe. But I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna trip. Goats are renowned for their balance, and I'm half goat, you putz." She sticks her tongue out at the man in the corner. "More interested to see how many enemies, if any, are actually 'taurs. Those gotta be pricy on the slave market."

[Menyra]

Brelia stares at Adrian and waves her tail back and forth. Her ears flick a little bit, showing that she is juuuuust a little cross at the moment. "Hey, don't start predicting things about sling bullets when you're the one with the sling," she says, scowling in his direction. At Kay's assessment of her typical strategies, the feline simply shrugs, neither confirming nor denying her assessment of things. "Pricey or not, what matters is that we make it through this. Which means we ought to assume that they have a horde of 'em to throw at us. Now unfortunately, I'm not exactly privy on anti-cavalry measures. Anyone else?"

[vore2412]

The Oread was less than pleased that she had to check her trusted warhammer in at the door. The heavy mace that they gave her as recompense hardly seemed useful in her mind, nor did the inferior hide armor they provided instead of allowing her to bring her scale armor in. However, she had plans for both weapon and armors that Torag had revealed to her in her morning prayers, and flicks her mace around disdainfully, ready to create other armor and weapons to fight in the arena. She scowls at the hyper-energetic faun, thinking that she had to have done something wrong to get tossed in here and will need to be incarcerated soon. The naga is very disturbing to her four and a half foot frame, towering over her way too much...thankfully she has those blessings from her god. The obvious rogue drew her attention slightly with his display, but quickly bores her with his antics. The feline seemed like she'd be quick enough to perish in the opening seconds of the fight that she wouldn't much have to worry about incarcerating her. That left the bland looking human and the somewhat intriguing scaly person. Her thoughts figure the former would be gone almost as quickly as the kitty, and the latter might be a challenge if she had to fight her. She listens quietly to the conversation, looking at each person that the catfolk rogue pointed at. In response to his predictions, she'll calmly say, "I'll repel any attacks with ice and devour at least one of my morsel's while avoiding their fumbling grasps to taste my earthy body. I do believe that you'll get devoured by an opponent that sneaks up on you, my prediction for you. As for anti-cavalry measures, a weapon that you can brace is rather effective...though that's just speculating about what they'll throw at us. If it comes to that, I'll have the proper weapon to use. That's another prediction you can count on for sure." Irice's voice has a slightly dwarfish accent to it combined with one that wouldn't easily be placed by those unfamiliar with the oread race. "I'll count on the naga to brace against any cavalry if she doesn't trip over her own tail...though if you do, be sure I'll catch you inside me." It appears that Irice is teasing, but there is a look in her eyes that shows if she got anyone inside of her there would be little chance she'd let them escape.

(( If permitted before entering the Arena, I'll have Irice cast the Ice Armor spell and don it. ))

[Netjak]

With her spears properly sharpened and fit for use, Nilia put one aside, as she was intended to use that one to break the charge of one rider herself, or centaur, if they were so lucky. Then, she was planning on pulling out the heavy mace to properly be able to use her shield for defence, and to make sure her enemies would hopefully just get knocked out, and not poked to death. Live meals were so much more satisfying, after all! The rest of the spears meanwhile she was beginning to fashion into a little cavalry trap. Obviously it wouldn't be enough to stop a charging horse, but hopefully it would wound them and cause the rider to loose control of the beast. Binding each spear together close to the tip with another in a series, with about 1,5 meters of rope in between them, Nilia was, if there was enough time out in the arena before the start of the match, going to stab each spear with the wooden end down in the ground close to the wall, facing out into the arena. Wriggling the anchor point from side to side, she was intending to make sure the spears had some range of movement horizontally, so once a horse, or centaur rode in between the spears, caught their legs or torso on the rope elevated a good half meter or so above the ground, they would pull two spears hopefully into the hind parts of their equine half. Of course, it was only going to work once, before the trap was ruined, and a observant rider or centaur could just jump over it, but then they couldn't really charge them either, and it would provide them a small advantage. And combat was all about racking up tiny advantages, and making the most out of them, after all!

For the same reason, Nilia's bright blue eyes held a good bit of respect, and some pity as she glanced over to Brelia sharing her woes with the structure of the match. The catgirl had after all proven that her seductive methods were effective, so it was unfortunate that those skills might be hard to put to use in a chaotic brawl. Smirking slightly in the direction of Lensea as the fellow scaly seemed to share her view of the coming fight, Nilia still shook her head a little at her offer of a bet, stating, "Competing for the first and last kill is just going to promote recklessness. If we were to bet on total kills though, I would atleast be able to put up some gold"~

With the slightest hint of a blush spreading across her freckled cheeks as Adriaan adressed her, Nilia got up for her seated position and pointed to the rogue, calling out, "I told you to quit calling me princess! I am as down to earth as naga come! ... But I would welcome the dogpile!", before calming down with a puff of air out of her nostrils, and soon settling back down to finish up her trap.

Tossing a glance over at the oread, and drawing a little smirk at the teasing threat, the naga held up what she was working with and stated, "I should be able to take one down with a spear myself, and 'this' might get another, but if they all charge at once, I'll be unable to keep them from charging you guys. I do kinda just have two hands, and rather would like to not have my tail trampled to bits trying to trip a dozen horses. Though, if I do happen to 'trip', you probably shouldn't be standing infront of me, I would be likely to gasp and 'accidentally' swallow you"~

[Zephyr42]

Adriaan has comebacks ready for all of the comments, but he drops most of them. "I'll take that bet... Ice Queen," he tells the oread, a friendly grin on his face. "And I'll bet in turn that you chip a tooth. Only mildly, but it'll sting for a little bit."

Then he turns to the rest of the group. "Sounds like a solid plan of attack," he says. "That's why I have spears, though I hope I won't need them. I've got this." He gives his sling a good whirl. "I'm a pretty good shot," he explains, his sling empty. "I'll try to take down everyone I can. Don't worry, Doctor," he tells Brelia. "I'm not taking chances when they get close. They get in range, it's melee all the way." He puts a hand on his spear to emphasize the point.

[vore2412]

Irice thinks again for a few seconds, not seeming to fully register the teasing and bad nicknaming going on with the naga and the puddy tat. Instead she heads towards the armor one more time, deciding that she could possibly use a spear herself instead of forming one out of the metal from her mace or daggers since she can only use it once a day...and she'd prefer to use it to form a warhammer for herself, as that is the forge masters weapon and her's by proxy. After finding a spear if another one is available, she'll finally begin to pay attention to the others again. "Ice Queen. Not quite apt, I only have one application of ice magic and that's to replace the frail armor they've given us with something...more cool if you will. And more protective too. It might be better to call me a forge mistress, Mr. Mouser." Irice says slowly and slightly stiffly, as though she's actually having to try to do this tease and banter and that it doesn't come to natural to her. "I can guarantee, if I'm in front of you, being swallowed is the least of my worries. Tying you up in knots would probably be what I'd do before entombing you inside." She says, and as she's speaking, her belly ripples a little bit, not just growling being heard, but like her stomach has actually become less solid for a moment and slightly more mud-like. "Princess snake." Though she hadn't been paying attention to the conversation for the most part, that seemed to rattle the naga a bit, so she used it in her own type of nickname to tease her.

[Menyra]

Brelia rolls her eyes a little while listening to all of the banter going on, and she hoists her newly acquired spear up. She tosses it between her hands and tilts it from side to side, trying to get a feel for the balance of this weapon she's not used before. It's not quite the weapon training she wishes she'd had before coming to the arena, but it's better than nothing. And besides, she figures she'll more than likely end up dropping it after the initial charge in favor of her trustee Morningstar, anyhow. Seeing how the social interaction has once more devolved into everyone teasing each other about swallowing each other whole, the feline sighs softly, then turns her head over to Nilia. "Well, it wouldn't be all bad if an accident were to happen," the feline doctor says idly, purely for the sake of throwing a metaphorical wrench into the conversation. "If it were me, at least I'd be out of the way of their swords and spears, while you'd still get all my curative prowess." She swishes her tail to one side, brushing it against Nilia softly. "And I don't know about how the rest would go about getting out of there, but it's easy to imagine me talking my way out. Maybe get you wrapped around my little finger while I'm at it~"

[Bright]

Jon Stalwart had been thinking for a while now. He stood up and walked over to the nearby table, putting down a string and 7 coins.

"I have an idea on how we should do this."

"Putting down spears seems like an effective idea. Hopefully we get a minute to introduce ourselves to the crowd before the 'centaurs' attack us. If we go in a defensive position, I think this might be a way to do it."

He pointed at the map:

Spoiler: show

Three fighters in front with spears. Nilia as our core front since she is the most intimidating. I'll take left flank together with Kaliope.
I suggest Lensea take right flank. I've seen you in the arena, so I know you're quite strong. Brelia can support you from behind with her spear.

I guess Adrian can go in the middle behind me and Nilia and use the Sling to put on pressure.
Irice holds our back and supports us where it is needed, guarding our back if needed."

He paused a bit.

"I don't expect this plan to hold for long, but it is better than going in without a plan."

[vore2412]

"You presume there actually are centaurs or quadrupeds that are similar to centaurs. And that I'm a rear-liner too. My spells are only to make up the lack of actual equipment here besides some minor healing. I'll be on front, with the spears if there is to be a cavalry attack. Then I'll bash their heads in with a warhammer that will be formed from this mace...and heal myself if needed. It's possible after all, that we're not only fighting other slaves, but also each other. You should plan for that too." Despite what little teasing she's done already, it's very easy to tell that she's being completely serious about this, and has already accounted for it in her own plans.

[Zephyr42]

Adriaan pauses for a moment when Irice gives him a nickname. "Mr. Mouser..." He chuckles for a moment. "Not bad, Forge Mistress."

Then Adriaan pauses to let John give out his plan. When Irice mentions that they might have to fight each other, though, he goes stiff as a plank, his fist turning white as fresh snow. His breath whistled through his teeth and his jaw works up and down ever so slightly. No words come out, though. Not for a while. Killing his teammates is something he just won't do. Not ever. "Let's not," he hisses. "I promise you all, no matter what happens, I will not lay a hand on any of you. Anyone who asks me to kill you will die in your place." Gone from his eyes is any hint of a joke. Instead, there's just utter ice.

[Netjak]

With how hard it was for Nilia to even just imagine the comparatively tiny oread managing to pin her down and tie her up, with her own tail no less, made the teasing words fall a bit short in her book atleast, until she too called her princess. Almost tossing the bundle of spears and rope at Irice, but just managing to flick them onto the ground instead, the noodle yelled, "Seriously, stop calling me that! It would be one thing if I deserved that title, but I am not even technically a noble anymore, so just quit it!", puffed up, and seemingly quite ticked off.

At the touch of the kitty's tail though, the angry naga's eyes were wrenched off Irice and to the soft, fluffy sensation against her skin and scales. With her cheeks flaring up just a little bit again, both at the gesture and the catgirl's words, Nilia slinked back into a more relaxed heap, and mused, "Unlike Irice, I'm a team player, so I'll try to not be that greedy Brelia, You will probably be needed outside to bring someone other than me up from the dirt, but, if you were to take a hit and need a safe place to heal up, feel free to jump on in! I don't plan on digesting any enemies before victory is secured"~, then licking her lips and gaping a little up in Brelia's face. It was just another tease though, as the naga would soon retreat away from the cute oracle, leaving her face a little dampened by her hot breath, but otherwise untouched.

Soon slithering over to join with Jon and Irice as strategy was being discussed, Nilia would note, "It is a recreation of a battle with centaurs on one side, and us on the other. I doubt they won't have cavalrymen, if not the real deal. And Irice... Do you still not trust us? We have been through a good few battles now together and all! ... And been mostly good allies. Besides, I sincerely doubt they would try to suddenly pit us against each other, especially right after such a huge brawl we were supposed to loose. Firstly, the crowd would have no idea what was going on, and that would just be bad entertainment at that point, and beyond that, if we actually were forced to fight against ourselves, despite voicing our displeasure with it, I think the Arena would have a 'little' riot at their hands. We are kinda popular now, after all! If they wanted to avoid all this, they would have needed to address it to the public ahead of time, and then we would know too. I really don't want to fight my brothers and sisters in arms either, but if you try anything Muddy, I'll guzzle you up from within even as a knot!"~ Despite how bad she was at taking teasing, she did love being on the giving end, and so she once again invited fury and fluster onto herself when she probably just should have moved on.

Finally actually looking over Jon's plan, Nilia would note, "You are aware we don't have enough spears for that whole line, right? And even if we were spreading them out with rope in between them, what I have made is only enough to cover like, 20 feet... How many spears are there even left? If you guys helped me, we might be able to make some more, uh, 'fortifications'."

[Razgriz]

From above, an echo of cheers from the audience resonate with the stone and dirt around you, shaking some of the ceiling dust off from above down around you. Seems like whoever is ahead of you is putting on quite the performance.

[vore2412]

Irice doesn't seem to respond to the commentary about her not being a team player...and the truth is, she doesn't really trust any of these people all that much. What small camaraderie that had been formed between them would be easily severed if it came down to only one of them surviving, and while Irice might not be guilty of having the greatest amount of brains in the world, she can easily envision a scenario where she has to fight each of these people. And from getting to know them, she's certain that most of them deserve to be digested almost as much as the ones that had set up this arena in the first place.

Although her words had delineated a realistic scenario about the intentions of those overseeing these games, she can tell that the reality of that possibility creates quite a bit of tension, with Adriaan the first to react, and then the naga. It takes her a few moments to try and find words that are appropriate for begin the cutting of that tension, but finally she manages to think of something that the rogue might find more acceptable. "For the most part, I find the proceedings of these matches to go against the laws of Torag and myself. I'd much rather force those that are orchestrating it for entertainment into the last prison they'll ever see. I have no personal grudge against any of you. While somewhat young as far as my people go, I've still seen over seven decades already, and have watched as most of your peoples grow old, good friends turning on each other, betrayal from your lesser-lived races. I cannot profess to understand the motivations of those that watch this entertainment or those that create it, except that it's not something that should not exist, and I hope to put an end to the macabre entertainment. After all, I'm not here due to any laws that I've broken. I came to see an end to this sort of thing, and from the inside seemed to be the best place to facilitate that. While I've planned for the eventuality of betrayal, I don't have any intentions of going after any of you unless it is force to preserve my life. Don't doubt my loyalty to the team." She says, her first words full of heavy emotion that eventually winds down with her last statement being said in an almost emotionless voice.

With Nilia becoming more actively involved in the planning, Irice begins to consider the words of the naga that aren't filled with venom towards her. "Rope...that would be a good means to trip them up. It would take a bit of preparation, but we might have enough between us to severely reduce a cavalry charge. After all, anything moving at that speed will undoubtedly trip when charging...and if they don't trip, they'll become impaled on the spears instead!" Unlike her previous calmness, she's beginning to get slightly excited about the possibilities of what they can do with their equipment...provided that they actually have enough rope to make it worth using at any rate. "Also, if any of you have anything that can be ignited, it would help me shape the battlefield a little more easily. A simple spark to set a blaze amidst our enemies."

After saying all this, she looks back over at Nilia with a small smirk. "You better be glad that I'm rather difficult to guzzle. It may be that my presence outside of a belly will be just what Nilia needs to go undigested inside of a horse stomach. Try not to let anyone besides me tie your tail in a knot...and be careful to avoid getting wrapped around anyone's fingers as well while we're at it." Her eyes glance pointedly at Brelia, the only other healer in the group that seems to be flirting with the large snake-woman. Not that she has any amorous designs herself towards either the naga or the cat...more that she doesn't want them growing too distracted by increasing attachments before a big fight.