PBA 067

[6/22/15, 8:32:55 PM] Crow: It is THE NEXT DAY.

[6/22/15, 8:33:01 PM] Crow: In the afternoon. Some time after lunch.

[6/22/15, 8:34:02 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar is eating a sandwich.

[6/22/15, 8:36:24 PM] Crow: Malagaste is going through the cupboards. "Where are the mushrooms?"

[6/22/15, 8:36:49 PM] Nilani: Nilani is scribbling in her spellbook, and occasionally taking a sip of hot cocoa from a mug on the table.

[6/22/15, 8:37:12 PM] Nilani: Did you check next to the potatoes?

[6/22/15, 8:37:48 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari emerges blearily through the doorway, eyes bloodshot, carrying a large felt bag. He mumbles something about "coffee."

[6/22/15, 8:38:04 PM] Wynn: Wynn is studying, again.

[6/22/15, 8:38:16 PM] Crow: Mal: What's a potato?

[6/22/15, 8:40:03 PM] Nilani: It's a lumpy tan root vegetable about as big as your fist.

[6/22/15, 8:41:17 PM] Iskandar: What she said.

[6/22/15, 8:41:51 PM] Crow: Mal: ... what color is it?

[6/22/15, 8:41:58 PM] Wynn: Brown.

[6/22/15, 8:42:15 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari manages to pour himself a mug of coffee the size of a small child. He also manages to down half of it on the way to a table.

[6/22/15, 8:42:26 PM] Crow: Mal: Oh, these things. They're full of dirt. ... no, I don't see any mushrooms. Is the rest of this stuff edible?

[6/22/15, 8:43:31 PM] Janis: Janis enters

[6/22/15, 8:43:35 PM] Iskandar: All of it is. WEll, the food is.

[6/22/15, 8:43:55 PM] Janis: Janis goes over to the fridge and grabs some fruit

[6/22/15, 8:44:08 PM] Janis: Should be.

[6/22/15, 8:45:15 PM] Crow: Mal: ... somebody's going to have to show me how to eat this stuff, unless there's proper food somewhere else.

[6/22/15, 8:45:29 PM] Janis: Janis tosses him another apple.

[6/22/15, 8:45:34 PM] Janis: Here's a start.

[6/22/15, 8:45:49 PM] Janis: They're sweet. Take a bite and chew. Just be careful of the core.

[6/22/15, 8:46:51 PM] Crow: He catches it. "Why? Will it explode?"

[6/22/15, 8:47:20 PM] Janis: No, you just don't eat it.

[6/22/15, 8:47:22 PM] Wynn: Wynn looks up from her book for a moment, shakes her head, and continues reading.

[6/22/15, 8:47:34 PM] Crow: Mal: Oh. Why not?

[6/22/15, 8:47:51 PM] Janis: .....I'm not really sure. I guess it just doesn't taste very good.

[6/22/15, 8:48:11 PM] Crow: Martivir turns up, sniffing the air curiously.

[6/22/15, 8:48:22 PM] Iskandar: That's where the seeds are. THey're hard and gross.

[6/22/15, 8:48:31 PM] Crow: Mal: But not poisonous or anything?

[6/22/15, 8:48:50 PM] Janis: Not if you don't eat, like, a bucket full of them or something.

[6/22/15, 8:49:14 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari looks up at Martivir and sleepily beckons her over to the table

[6/22/15, 8:49:31 PM] Crow: She looks confused.

[6/22/15, 8:49:41 PM] Crow: Mal: Oh.

[6/22/15, 8:49:59 PM] Crow: He takes a bite of the apple and chews it, thoughtfully.

[6/22/15, 8:50:10 PM] Janis: Janis follows suit, smiling.

[6/22/15, 8:51:09 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari sighs; clearly the coffee has not fully kicked in yet.

[6/22/15, 8:51:22 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I finished your dress. Would you care to see it?

[6/22/15, 8:52:23 PM] Crow: Martivir: Yes. And I found a nice place to lair. It's not quite as nice and gooshy as home. But it's nice.

[6/22/15, 8:52:31 PM] Janis: Where is it?

[6/22/15, 8:52:36 PM] Janis: Or is it a secret?

[6/22/15, 8:52:59 PM] Crow: Martivir: In the forest. Talas says you don't hunt dragons here.

[6/22/15, 8:53:13 PM] Janis: No.

[6/22/15, 8:53:13 PM] Iskandar: Nope. Well, they haven't tried yet.

[6/22/15, 8:53:33 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: We don't hunt dragons here, that's correct. Granted there are very few specimens to hunt even if we wanted to.

[6/22/15, 8:53:38 PM] Janis: I try to not hunt things that much bigger and tougher than me.

[6/22/15, 8:54:25 PM] Crow: Martivir: I could bite your head off.

[6/22/15, 8:54:27 PM] Janis: Did Talas tell you about the talking deer? Don't kill or eat the talking deer.

[6/22/15, 8:54:32 PM] Crow: Malagaste looks at her, frowning.

[6/22/15, 8:54:45 PM] Crow: Martivir: I wouldn't eat a thing that could talk. Unless it tried to eat me first.

[6/22/15, 8:55:14 PM] Janis: I used to. These days, if I didn't eat things I talked to, I'd starve.

[6/22/15, 8:55:29 PM] Janis: Janis looks at the apple sadly before biting.

[6/22/15, 8:55:43 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari sighs and takes the dress out of its carrybag, spreading it out across the otherwise-empty table.

[6/22/15, 8:56:06 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: ...gods I'm sleepy. Took all night to do this.

[6/22/15, 8:56:12 PM] Wynn: Looks good.

[6/22/15, 8:57:17 PM] Crow: Martivir touches the fabric. "... it looks like water at night."

[6/22/15, 8:57:32 PM] Janis: ...that mean it's pretty?

[6/22/15, 8:57:48 PM] Crow: Martivir: Cool and safe.

[6/22/15, 8:57:54 PM] Janis: Good.

[6/22/15, 8:58:22 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Speaking of water at night...

[6/22/15, 8:58:28 PM] Crow: Martivir: ... but I don't have anything to exchange.

[6/22/15, 8:59:30 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari pulls out a similarly-patterned nightgown of thinner, more breathable material. A smaller gold-filigree outline of a black dragon's head covers the bottom left portion of the dress

[6/22/15, 8:59:51 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: ...I had leftovers, and I learned a technique to space silk fibers out with a hammer. I couldn't help but try it.

[6/22/15, 9:00:02 PM] Wynn: Wynn raises an eyebrow.

[6/22/15, 9:00:22 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I figured you wouldn't want to sleep in the dress, after all.

[6/22/15, 9:00:48 PM] Crow: Martivir: Do people normally?

[6/22/15, 9:01:13 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: No, usually they have specific sleeping-outfits.

[6/22/15, 9:01:19 PM] Crow: Martivir: Dragons don't wear clothes. .. . jewelry sometimes.

[6/22/15, 9:01:36 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Some choose to sleep wearing nothing at all, but it's considered inappropriate if there are others sleeping in the area.

[6/22/15, 9:01:54 PM] Crow: Martivir: I had a very pretty crown that fit just perfectly around my horns.

[6/22/15, 9:02:41 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Have you any gift for illusions?

[6/22/15, 9:03:53 PM] Crow: Martivir: No.

[6/22/15, 9:04:22 PM] Crow: Martivir: I try not to do any magic, it might attract attention.

[6/22/15, 9:04:36 PM] Iskandar: Well, you can do it here.

[6/22/15, 9:04:40 PM] Iskandar: I do it all the time.

[6/22/15, 9:04:55 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: And if you can learn to cast an illusion of your crown, I can probably make you another one.

[6/22/15, 9:05:26 PM] Crow: Martivir: ... you can't just make me things all the time. That means a debt.

[6/22/15, 9:05:58 PM] Crow: Mal eats the entire apple, except the very innermost core and the seeds.

[6/22/15, 9:06:09 PM] Janis: Janis smiles at Mal

[6/22/15, 9:06:14 PM] Janis: Good right?

[6/22/15, 9:06:31 PM] Crow: Mal: Yeah. It'd be better with sweetmold on it, though. For the crunch.

[6/22/15, 9:07:15 PM] Janis: Yeah. Pastries are good. I don't think we have any right now.

[6/22/15, 9:07:45 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Honestly, I'd gladly spend the rest of my life making things for people. I was going to do it back before I got pulled here... though to be fair, I was going to charge for it back then.

[6/22/15, 9:08:40 PM] Crow: Mal: Huh. Well, what about the potato?

[6/22/15, 9:08:50 PM] Crow: Martivir: But I can't have debt.

[6/22/15, 9:09:41 PM] Janis: ...not really the same thing. That's more of a...

[6/22/15, 9:10:28 PM] Janis: Savory, I guess. I don't know much about this.

[6/22/15, 9:10:33 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Who said you owed me anything? I certainly didn't say you did.

[6/22/15, 9:11:01 PM] Iskandar: He's giving you a gift.

[6/22/15, 9:11:06 PM] Wynn: Just give her a chance to exchange her labor for it or something.

[6/22/15, 9:11:26 PM] Crow: Martivir: ... like a tribute?

[6/22/15, 9:11:35 PM] Iskandar: Exactly.

[6/22/15, 9:11:53 PM] Crow: Martivir: That just seems odd. I'm not that powerful here.

[6/22/15, 9:12:23 PM] Crow: Mal: Do you just... bite into it? With all the dirt on?

[6/22/15, 9:12:36 PM] Janis: No, you clean it first. And then you cook it.

[6/22/15, 9:12:55 PM] Crow: Val turns up with a book under one arm, and starts making a fresh pot of tea, waving at Wynn.

[6/22/15, 9:13:07 PM] Janis: You can cut it up and fry it.

[6/22/15, 9:13:26 PM] Crow: Mal: Oh, like white mushrooms.

[6/22/15, 9:13:28 PM] Wynn: Hello, Valerian.

[6/22/15, 9:13:50 PM] Janis: ...Maybe. I've never had a mushroom. A lot of the ones in the forest are bad for you.

[6/22/15, 9:14:26 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari sighs and leans back in his chair. "I'm... you know what, this is too difficult for me on no sleep and less coffee. Iskandar, I leave this in your capable talons." He then proceeds to refill his mug with coffee.

[6/22/15, 9:15:32 PM] Crow: Val: Found a book on dragon social habits and wanted to run it by Iskandar.

[6/22/15, 9:15:43 PM] Iskandar: It's a gift. He just wants to give you something, expecting nothing in return.

[6/22/15, 9:16:00 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar raises an eyebrow at Val.

[6/22/15, 9:16:24 PM] Crow: Martivir: That's what they say before they put chains on you and drag you into a dungeon to suck all your magic out. ... but he's too squishy for that, isn't he?

[6/22/15, 9:16:29 PM] Crow: Val hands Iskandar the book!

[6/22/15, 9:17:04 PM] Janis: He's just being friendly, Marti.

[6/22/15, 9:17:06 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: ...I would hug you, but that would get me clawed to death. I shall settle for giving you your space, and continuing to make you things with no thought or desire for recompensation.

[6/22/15, 9:17:21 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar flips through the book.

[6/22/15, 9:17:22 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: And drinking this coffee.

[6/22/15, 9:17:30 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari does just that.

[6/22/15, 9:18:11 PM] Janis: Don't you have friends?

[6/22/15, 9:18:44 PM] Crow: Martivir: Um... no.

[6/22/15, 9:18:55 PM] Janis: ...oh...sorry...

[6/22/15, 9:19:16 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar scowls at the book. "I need a pen."

[6/22/15, 9:19:19 PM] Crow: Martivir: People hunt dragons.

[6/22/15, 9:19:28 PM] Crow: Val: That bad, is it?

[6/22/15, 9:19:29 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari produces a quill and his smaller jar of cobalt ink. "Go nuts."

[6/22/15, 9:19:46 PM] Janis: Isk has friends.

[6/22/15, 9:19:52 PM] Janis: They stole stuff together.

[6/22/15, 9:20:04 PM] Crow: Mal: Who would be stupid enough to hunt a dragon?

[6/22/15, 9:20:22 PM] Janis: Stupid people.

[6/22/15, 9:20:22 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Martivir, you know of magic, correct? Do you know what a Zone of Truth spell is?

[6/22/15, 9:20:44 PM] Crow: Val: Lunch, I'd think.

[6/22/15, 9:21:01 PM] Crow: Martivir: Truthsaying, you mean?

[6/22/15, 9:21:23 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Yes.

[6/22/15, 9:21:31 PM] Janis: .....why?

[6/22/15, 9:22:21 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari sighs and casts Zone of Truth in the immediate area around himself, electing to fail his own Will save.

[6/22/15, 9:23:00 PM] Wynn: Wynn looks on curiously.

[6/22/15, 9:23:23 PM] Crow: Val: Oh no, now I'm compelled to tell the truth. That's terrible.

[6/22/15, 9:23:37 PM] Crow: Val: ... looks like sarcasm still works.

[6/22/15, 9:24:16 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I have no ill will towards you or any desire to steal your magicks or belongings, and have no schemes nor desire to endebt you to me.

[6/22/15, 9:25:21 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Anyone else who wants to can use this Zone of Truth, if you'd like. It has approximately four and three-quarters minutes of duration remaining.

[6/22/15, 9:25:49 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari goes back to drinking his coffee. As an inanimate object, it cannot make Will saves, and is now very honest.

[6/22/15, 9:25:51 PM] Crow: Martivir tilts her head at him, doubtfully. "Is it a mating ritual? I know some animals do that..."

[6/22/15, 9:26:04 PM] Wynn: Wynn smirks.

[6/22/15, 9:26:07 PM] Crow: Mal: I hardly ever lie anyway.

[6/22/15, 9:26:44 PM] Crow: Valerian: Good policy. So what's wrong with the book, Iskandar? Or ... would it be shorter to  ask what's right about it?

[6/22/15, 9:27:57 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar is currently scribling in the book.

[6/22/15, 9:28:23 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I can honestly say I have never engaged in anything that would be described as a "mating ritual" by any mentally-stable human being. A few of the less stable ones might make jokes about my days at Mercantile College.

[6/22/15, 9:28:35 PM] Iskandar: I'm crossing out the bits that are wrong.

[6/22/15, 9:28:57 PM] Crow: Malagaste: ... maybe you should just write your own.

[6/22/15, 9:29:05 PM] Crow: Martivir: Why not?

[6/22/15, 9:29:38 PM] Janis: Yeah, you wrote that other book already. Now you just do it with dragons.

[6/22/15, 9:30:18 PM] Iskandar: It's more fun being a critic.

[6/22/15, 9:31:15 PM] Iskandar: Whoever wrote this had some strange ideas.

[6/22/15, 9:31:19 PM] Crow: Valerian: That's true, but it's more useful to have good information.

[6/22/15, 9:32:18 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Maybe you should write your own.

[6/22/15, 9:32:42 PM] Janis: Who?

[6/22/15, 9:32:42 PM] Crow: Valerian: ... not really my field. I've written music, but that's about it.

[6/22/15, 9:32:56 PM] Janis: ...you write music?

[6/22/15, 9:33:11 PM] Crow: Valerian: Yes, why?

[6/22/15, 9:33:26 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: ...that's honestly a good question, Peace. I think it stems from some sort of human belief of superiority, that we are above our "baser instincts." Human courtship among the middle-class typically involves either some form of wealth display or exchange, or other form of demonstrating one's fiscal ability to care for a spouse and children, rather than a "mating ritual" to simply indicate a biological ability to create children.

...and that statement raises several questions about my previous statement. Oh dear.

[6/22/15, 9:33:58 PM] Crow: Martivir: Your hoard isn't big enough?

[6/22/15, 9:34:18 PM] Janis: Thank you. Someone who speaks Aziz.

[6/22/15, 9:34:57 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Here? No. No it is not.

[6/22/15, 9:35:04 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Much as I would like it to be.

[6/22/15, 9:35:35 PM] Crow: Martivir: Then why are you sharing?

[6/22/15, 9:35:58 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Because I would very much like for it to be.

[6/22/15, 9:36:55 PM] Crow: Martivir: But that doesn't make any sense.

[6/22/15, 9:37:09 PM] Crow: Malagaste: ... I don't even think that makes sense in humanoid.

[6/22/15, 9:37:27 PM] Iskandar: Yeah, having trouble following that one, Aziz.

[6/22/15, 9:37:47 PM] Janis: Yeah, I got nothing.

[6/22/15, 9:37:47 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari sighs and dispels the Zone of Truth. "That's the trouble with Truth spells. Truth doesn't always make sense outside of your own head."

[6/22/15, 9:38:08 PM] Janis: I'm having trouble seeing it make sense in your head too.

[6/22/15, 9:38:43 PM] Wynn: Giving away things hoping they'll show everyone else to get more people to purchase things from you?

[6/22/15, 9:39:15 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: No... more an exercise in self-delusion. I give things away because I wish I had the funds to do it sustainably.

[6/22/15, 9:39:28 PM] Crow: Val: ... I left the list in an envelope on your door.

[6/22/15, 9:39:43 PM] Crow: Martivir: But... but... that's crazy.

[6/22/15, 9:41:37 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Really? Imagine a hoard so singularly massive that you could give parts of it away and never even notice the absence. Imagine a hoard that made more of itself, continuously. A hoard that created more gold, more treasure, every time you looked. A hoard that, against common sense, would make more treasure, faster, when you gave parts of it away. Wealthy humans can do that.

[6/22/15, 9:41:59 PM] Crow: Martivir: How?

[6/22/15, 9:42:14 PM] Janis: It's not a real hoard, is it?

[6/22/15, 9:42:23 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar:  That's how Utlan-Tari started.

[6/22/15, 9:42:33 PM] Janis: This is like one of those "the treasure is friendship" things, isn't it?

[6/22/15, 9:42:51 PM] Iskandar: Some dragons made their hoards into a corporation.

[6/22/15, 9:43:00 PM] Crow: Martivir: That's daft. Treasure is treasure.

[6/22/15, 9:43:17 PM] Janis: Nah, it's like these stories my mum would tell in songs.

[6/22/15, 9:43:43 PM] Janis: These people would go out with a map to find this treasure, and they'd think it's gold and jewels, and when they get there, there's nothing.

[6/22/15, 9:44:17 PM] Janis: And then somebody, usually an old guy, would explain how the lessons they learned and people they met were the treasure, cause they made their lives better or something.

[6/22/15, 9:44:40 PM] Janis: ...I imagine all those stories had a part afterwards where they beat up whoever said that, but those bits weren't in the song.

[6/22/15, 9:44:46 PM] Crow: Martivir: I don't think people are allowed to be treasure.

[6/22/15, 9:45:03 PM] Crow: Malagaste: I wish someone would tell my grandmother that.

[6/22/15, 9:45:35 PM] Crow: Valerian: She probably wouldn't listen to me, and Holly's... Holly.

[6/22/15, 9:45:38 PM] Janis: Janis turns to Mal.

[6/22/15, 9:45:53 PM] Janis: You know you don't have to do what she tells you. Not here.

[6/22/15, 9:46:25 PM] Janis: On this ship, everyone is their own person.

[6/22/15, 9:46:36 PM] Janis: Even if they're not people.

[6/22/15, 9:46:42 PM] Crow: Malagaste: That's... not how families work.

[6/22/15, 9:46:44 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Iskandar has the right of it, Peace. You understand tribute, right? Taxes and fees are a form of tribute. The wealthy can come up with reasons to demand taxes and fees from those who are less wealthy than them, and thus their hoard grows while they do nothing at all. In fact, if they spend that hoard making life a little better for those under them, or improving the conditions they work in, or even just showing off the things those underlings make on their behalf? Humans will give them even more treasure out of some sort of misplaced emotional connection.

[6/22/15, 9:47:11 PM] Janis: It's how families should work.

[6/22/15, 9:47:18 PM] Janis: Besides, families are overrated.

[6/22/15, 9:47:23 PM] Crow: Martivir: But... but...

[6/22/15, 9:47:25 PM] Janis: Friends are better.

[6/22/15, 9:47:30 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: There's many names for it - incorporation, feudalism, tithing - but the end result is the same.

[6/22/15, 9:47:46 PM] Crow: Martivir: How can you just... give things away? Especially when you don't have many things?

[6/22/15, 9:48:12 PM] Crow: Valerian: I like my family. They're just, you know... difficult.

[6/22/15, 9:48:20 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Oh, me? I just give things away because I like giving things away. I thought this was a conversation about economics.

[6/22/15, 9:48:36 PM] Crow: Martivir: You like...

[6/22/15, 9:48:44 PM] Iskandar: No, it's a conversation about Martivir not understanding why you're just giving things away.

[6/22/15, 9:48:56 PM] Crow: She grabs Aziz's head and checks it carefully with her fingers.

[6/22/15, 9:49:08 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Well, that's not entirely tr... hi.

[6/22/15, 9:49:25 PM] Crow: Martivir: I don't see any bleeding.

[6/22/15, 9:50:05 PM] Crow: Martivir: At home I had a whole shelf of potions. Red ones and purple ones and green ones and ones that had little gold flecks.

[6/22/15, 9:50:20 PM] Crow: Martivir: Is it broken on the inside?

[6/22/15, 9:50:26 PM] Crow: She's still looking.

[6/22/15, 9:50:39 PM] Iskandar: He's not broken.

[6/22/15, 9:50:41 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: There... was a caveat to my original statement...

[6/22/15, 9:50:48 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari is holding very still.

[6/22/15, 9:51:20 PM] Crow: Martivir: But they're so soft and fragile. It's so easy for them to get hurt. ... but you can usually tell...

[6/22/15, 9:51:55 PM] Janis: Janis is snickering

[6/22/15, 9:52:42 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari just sighs and lets it happen.

[6/22/15, 9:52:57 PM] Crow: Martivir: ... and I don't smell any blood.

[6/22/15, 9:53:17 PM] Crow: Valerian: I don't... think he's broken. Iskandar, maybe you can explain in... cultural dragon.

[6/22/15, 9:53:30 PM] Janis: That's just how he is, Marti.

[6/22/15, 9:54:15 PM] Crow: Martivir: Oh no, that's so sad. Did his egg come out soft?

[6/22/15, 9:54:34 PM] Wynn: ...is that common for dragons? That's not the first time one has asked.

[6/22/15, 9:54:39 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar shrugs at Val. "I tried."

[6/22/15, 9:55:03 PM] Janis: .....from how Tarak explained it, I think you need to ask his mom about that.

[6/22/15, 9:55:12 PM] Crow: Martivir: Bad eggs? I don't know, I've never had any.

[6/22/15, 9:56:07 PM] Crow: Valerian: No, just... humanoids don't feel the same about giving things away as dragons do. A lot of us do that and to ... some extent it's normal. Right, Iskandar?

[6/22/15, 9:56:25 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: As I was trying to say before, I only really give things away to the people I like...

[6/22/15, 9:56:30 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Especially to family or friends.

[6/22/15, 9:57:01 PM] Crow: Martivir stops the fretful noggin-groping!

[6/22/15, 9:57:47 PM] Crow: Martivir: Ohhh.

[6/22/15, 9:57:57 PM] Crow: She looks at Iskandar curiously. "Do you give things away?"

[6/22/15, 9:59:46 PM] Iskandar: Only to people I like. Grudgingly.

[6/22/15, 10:00:07 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari stares in fruitless anger at his empty coffee mug. "I expected better from you," he chastises it half-heartedly.

[6/22/15, 10:00:15 PM] Iskandar: I gave out some scales.

[6/22/15, 10:01:01 PM] Crow: Val pours Aziz another cup of coffee, wordlessly.

[6/22/15, 10:01:16 PM] Crow: Martivir: Oh! That's right.

[6/22/15, 10:02:36 PM] Crow: Martivir digs in her pocket and draws out three black scales. They're only slightly shiny, and one is larger than the others, about the size of a teacup-saucer. She offers them to Aziz.

[6/22/15, 10:04:44 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Dragonscale makes good armor. Hard to get, though.

[6/22/15, 10:05:04 PM] Janis: My guess is that's where dragon hunters come from.

[6/22/15, 10:05:23 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari is unsure how to feel about this. "Thank you..." he says, carefully taking them from her.

[6/22/15, 10:05:32 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Well, usually you can trade for castoffs, but you have to find a dragon who doesn't want to kill you first.

[6/22/15, 10:06:02 PM] Janis: Do Drow meet with dragons?

[6/22/15, 10:06:06 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I think I'll turn them into a tea set.

[6/22/15, 10:06:20 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Or a hat.

[6/22/15, 10:06:30 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Or maybe I'll just... keep them.

[6/22/15, 10:06:30 PM] Crow: Malagaste: If they ask you to, yes.

[6/22/15, 10:07:12 PM] Crow: Martivir: I can give you more as they fall off...

[6/22/15, 10:07:49 PM] Janis: It's just, for someone who didn't know what a potato was, you seemed to know a bit about dragons.

[6/22/15, 10:08:26 PM] Wynn: Did you think potatoes were some form of requisite knowledge for learning about dragons?

[6/22/15, 10:08:51 PM] Iskandar: According to this book, yes.

[6/22/15, 10:09:10 PM] Janis: No, it's just I knew a lot more people who know about potatoes than knew about dragons.

[6/22/15, 10:09:18 PM] Janis: Or, at least, who talked about dragons.

[6/22/15, 10:09:47 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Oh, sure, I know a couple of dragons. They're okay, mostly.

[6/22/15, 10:09:51 PM] Wynn: I don't imagine they grow everywhere.

[6/22/15, 10:10:11 PM] Crow: Malagaste: We don't have dirty lumpy things to eat in the Underdark, no.

[6/22/15, 10:10:28 PM] Crow: Martivir: .... if you want them. In exchange.

[6/22/15, 10:12:29 PM] Janis: Sounds like there's a lot of cool fungus in the Underdark.

[6/22/15, 10:12:34 PM] Janis: Do you have druids there?

[6/22/15, 10:13:32 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I would consider that unfair to you. Anyone can buy silks and shears. Only you can create these.

[6/22/15, 10:13:46 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Yeah, some.

[6/22/15, 10:14:09 PM] Crow: Martivir: But I don't want any debt. Ugh, and you can't just give me things. That's not right!

[6/22/15, 10:14:33 PM] Janis: Do they talk to your plants? Are your plants interesting in the Underdark?

[6/22/15, 10:15:05 PM] Janis: I've tried talking to trees and stuff, but...it's really weird. They talk slow and it's hard to...get them. You know?

[6/22/15, 10:15:08 PM] Crow: Malagaste blinks. "Uh... honestly I have no idea. It's never occurred to me to ask. I only do arcane magic."

[6/22/15, 10:15:17 PM] Janis: Oh, ok.

[6/22/15, 10:15:20 PM] Janis: That's cool.

[6/22/15, 10:15:37 PM] Crow: Malagaste: I'm hopefully going to learn some divine stuff too, eventually.

[6/22/15, 10:15:48 PM] Crow: Malagaste: I mean, Lady Myr'une can cast everything.

[6/22/15, 10:16:42 PM] Janis: Your grandma? How does she do that?

[6/22/15, 10:17:14 PM] Crow: Malagaste: She can use spells other people make. And she can cast her own, too.

[6/22/15, 10:17:45 PM] Janis: ...she steals people's magic?

[6/22/15, 10:18:01 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I... you know what, I'm sure we can figure this out later. If you insist on owing me something, you can find a way to pay me back later, I'm sure of it.

[6/22/15, 10:18:29 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Kind of, but it's more like... using it. She made my fireballs bigger, for example. A lot bigger, uh, I used to have more eyebrow than this.

[6/22/15, 10:19:22 PM] Crow: Martivir: You're a very sweet squishy. Humanoid.

[6/22/15, 10:19:55 PM] Janis: Janis looks at his eyebrows, now

[6/22/15, 10:20:01 PM] Janis: That sounds dangerous.

[6/22/15, 10:20:09 PM] Janis: Aren't regular fireballs usually enough?

[6/22/15, 10:20:10 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari goes back to drinking coffee and desperately trying to wake up. "Nothing makes sense anymore."

[6/22/15, 10:21:07 PM] Crow: Malagaste: It was a big dragonmonster.

[6/22/15, 10:21:14 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Janis just turned down larger fireballs, I just had to argue the virtues of giving things to a dragon, and my coffee inexplicably refilled itself when I wasn't looking. Numbers have no meaning.

[6/22/15, 10:21:26 PM] Wynn: Not so big.

[6/22/15, 10:21:43 PM] Janis: I've never used...ok, I did use some fireballs.

[6/22/15, 10:21:48 PM] Crow: Valerian: It wasn't inexplicable, I just poured more coffee in. Sorry, I forget to make noise sometimes.

[6/22/15, 10:21:50 PM] Janis: But they weren't big ones.

[6/22/15, 10:21:59 PM] Crow: Malagaste: It looked big to me.

[6/22/15, 10:22:22 PM] Janis: I bet you could've done fine on your own.

[6/22/15, 10:22:48 PM] Janis: It wasn't that big a dragonmonster. It wasn't like it was an actual dragon.

[6/22/15, 10:23:00 PM] Janis: You should've seen Isk in his Dragon form.

[6/22/15, 10:23:43 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I gave one of Isk's followers a piece of jewelry that makes an illusion that shows how big he is. Someone should go find him before I wake up and this dream ends.

[6/22/15, 10:24:12 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari may not have slept since before making the collection of outfits.

[6/22/15, 10:24:53 PM] Crow: Martivir: Was he very handsome?

[6/22/15, 10:25:05 PM] Janis: .....he was blue......

[6/22/15, 10:25:07 PM] Crow: She eyes Iskandar doubtfully!

[6/22/15, 10:25:26 PM] Janis: .......big and blue.......is that good?

[6/22/15, 10:26:24 PM] Iskandar: I was amazing.

[6/22/15, 10:26:32 PM] Iskandar: I rescued Aziz and Val.

[6/22/15, 10:26:39 PM] Iskandar: From plummeting.

[6/22/15, 10:26:40 PM] Janis: He did do that.

[6/22/15, 10:26:46 PM] Janis: That was a very good thing.

[6/22/15, 10:26:55 PM] Crow: Valerian: It was pretty amazing.

[6/22/15, 10:26:55 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: That was one of the many times I was unable to fly. I've fixed that since then.

[6/22/15, 10:27:47 PM] Crow: Martivir checks his back for wings, then looks worriedly at him. "... are you sure he's not damaged?"

[6/22/15, 10:30:06 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: You... I swear, you must have heard of magic somewhere.

[6/22/15, 10:30:41 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Dragons invented the stuff, if half the records are to be believed. How is this somehow surprising to you?

[6/22/15, 10:30:46 PM] Crow: Martivir: Dragons are magic.

[6/22/15, 10:30:51 PM] Crow: Martivir: Humans aren't.

[6/22/15, 10:31:15 PM] Janis: We can channel magic.

[6/22/15, 10:31:21 PM] Janis: I channel nature magic.

[6/22/15, 10:31:29 PM] Janis: Kind of similar, right?

[6/22/15, 10:31:30 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: But I just... I just cast spells. Zone of Truth! I was there for that! Honest! I was present and so were you!

[6/22/15, 10:33:13 PM] Crow: Martivir: People don't fly.

[6/22/15, 10:33:24 PM] Nilani: I can fly.

[6/22/15, 10:33:39 PM] Nilani: It's one of my favorite spells, other than invisibility.

[6/22/15, 10:33:40 PM] Janis: I can fly.

[6/22/15, 10:33:49 PM] Janis: I flew after you, remember?

[6/22/15, 10:34:05 PM] Crow: Martivir: .... yes, but you were a bird then. Can... all of you change into birds?

[6/22/15, 10:34:18 PM] Wynn: No.

[6/22/15, 10:34:21 PM] Janis: I think just me.

[6/22/15, 10:34:26 PM] Janis: I change into lots of stuff.

[6/22/15, 10:34:31 PM] Janis: Wolves are easier.

[6/22/15, 10:35:46 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I... you know what? Fine.

[6/22/15, 10:36:02 PM] Crow: Martivir: Oh, I see. At home humans don't usually have magic unless they take it.

[6/22/15, 10:36:26 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari stops mid-cast. "They what?"

[6/22/15, 10:36:37 PM] Janis: Well, I was given mine by a God.

[6/22/15, 10:36:45 PM] Janis: Not sure if that counts.

[6/22/15, 10:36:59 PM] Crow: Martivir: Take it. From dragons usually, but they can take it from faeries and dryads and things too.

[6/22/15, 10:37:01 PM] Iskandar: Humanoids can use magic where we come from.

[6/22/15, 10:37:16 PM] Iskandar: Its not as good as dragon magic, but they don't have to steal it.

[6/22/15, 10:37:49 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: That's... disgusting. I had to work long and hard for almost two decades before I could cast simple cantrips. There are dimensions full of people who just steal it?

[6/22/15, 10:38:39 PM] Crow: Martivir: I knew you wouldn't do that. You're too funny and odd.

[6/22/15, 10:39:29 PM] Crow: Martivir: I hide from humans normally.

[6/22/15, 10:39:51 PM] Wynn: Are you upset because they steal or because you had to work for it?

[6/22/15, 10:40:51 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: You know what? After we find our way out of this binding spell, after you get the chance to go home and get your hoard? You're moving. There are perfectly pleasant swamps on my world where the humans are sane and sensible and properly afraid of dragons instead of going around stealing magic from people, and you're going to live there.

[6/22/15, 10:41:14 PM] Wynn: Asking her to move in with you already?

[6/22/15, 10:41:26 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Are you accusing my shop of being a bog?!

[6/22/15, 10:41:27 PM] Crow: Martivir, doubtfully: Do you want an egg?

[6/22/15, 10:41:40 PM] Wynn: Settle down, Casanova.

[6/22/15, 10:42:16 PM] Iskandar: This converstaion has taken some strange turns.

[6/22/15, 10:42:17 PM] Crow: Val keeps a straight face, but only because he has a very high bluff check.

[6/22/15, 10:42:36 PM] Janis: ...do you make eggs like...people make babies?

[6/22/15, 10:43:02 PM] Nilani: Nilani hides behind her spellbook.

[6/22/15, 10:43:29 PM] Crow: Martivir: I think so.

[6/22/15, 10:43:38 PM] Janis: ....................

[6/22/15, 10:43:45 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I have completely lost track of this conversation. I quit.

[6/22/15, 10:44:08 PM] Janis: Yeah, I think I might hang in the forest a bit.

[6/22/15, 10:44:18 PM] Janis: I'll come back....later.

[6/22/15, 10:44:21 PM] Janis: Janis runs off.

[6/22/15, 10:45:10 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: I'm going to go work on a new project. Or seven. If anyone needs me?

[6/22/15, 10:45:29 PM] Crow: Martivir: ... some people do take human mates. Only they don't last very long, do they?

[6/22/15, 10:45:48 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Yep, seven projects. Try not to need me.

[6/22/15, 10:46:04 PM] Aziz al-Awlari: Aziz al-Awlari makes for his shop, face redder than it had a right to be.

[6/22/15, 10:47:55 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar looks at Wynn. "That got weird."

[6/22/15, 10:47:59 PM] Crow: Valerian: ... maybe I should talk to him.

[6/22/15, 10:48:19 PM] Wynn: Wynn shrugs and turns the page.

[6/22/15, 10:49:01 PM] Crow: Valerian: And no, humans don't usually live as long as dragons.

[6/22/15, 10:49:18 PM] Iskandar: That's true.

[6/22/15, 10:49:36 PM] Crow: Valerian: ... do you ever worry about that?

[6/22/15, 10:51:02 PM] Iskandar: Not... really. I try not to think about it. I mean, I guess it's the same as a human and an elf, right? You try to live in the moment, and in the back of your head research the necessary spells for longevity.

[6/22/15, 10:51:47 PM] Crow: Valerian: I don't think he really meant that, though.

[6/22/15, 10:52:21 PM] Iskandar: No, me neither. Wynn was being mean.

[6/22/15, 10:52:40 PM] Crow: Valerian: Teasing.

[6/22/15, 10:53:07 PM] Crow: Martivir: Oh. Well, he does smell nice. And has very nice sc... clothes.

[6/22/15, 10:53:38 PM] Wynn: I wasn't being mean.

[6/22/15, 10:54:09 PM] Crow: Val: It does sound like his world is safer for dragons.

[6/22/15, 10:55:03 PM] Iskandar: You were intentionally trying to make him uncomfortable.

[6/22/15, 10:55:05 PM] Crow: Martivir: And it does sound like I wouldn't have to fight any dragons for him. That would be nicer, I'm small.

[6/22/15, 10:55:14 PM] Crow: Val: Teasing.

[6/22/15, 10:57:11 PM] Crow: Martivir: Does he even have a proper lair?

[6/22/15, 10:58:34 PM] Iskandar: He's has his workshop, and a room.

[6/22/15, 10:59:04 PM] Crow: Martivir: Where would the egg go?

[6/22/15, 10:59:25 PM] Iskandar: Wynn knows the answer to that.

[6/22/15, 11:00:01 PM] Crow: Valerian: I'm not even sure I know the answer to that.

[6/22/15, 11:00:26 PM] Crow: Valerian: ... then again, that is why I was looking for a reliable book on dragon social mores, which apparently this is not.

[6/22/15, 11:00:39 PM] Wynn: Why would I know that?

[6/22/15, 11:01:10 PM] Crow: Malagaste: The ones I know all like sugar in their tea. And treasure, they like that a lot.

[6/22/15, 11:01:12 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar holds up the book. "This basically reads like the appendix to a fictional world detailed in a series of overlong, unedited novels."

[6/22/15, 11:01:31 PM] Crow: ((Oh LotR you have a lot to answer for.))

[6/22/15, 11:03:47 PM] Crow: Martivir: ... well, I'll think about it, but it'll take me a few years to decide. And I have to make sure. Papa always told me to be careful of humans.

[6/22/15, 11:04:36 PM] Wynn: You know... you don't have to... make an egg the first time you spend time together.

[6/22/15, 11:04:54 PM] Crow: Martivir: Well, no.

[6/22/15, 11:06:01 PM] Crow: Martivir: Usually you look for one for a while, and then pick out the one you want, and then, you know. Make an impression. Only I'm small, so it's... really dangerous to do that.

[6/22/15, 11:07:08 PM] Crow: Martivir: ... but I could beat a human. As long as it wasn't twenty or thirty humans with chains and antimagic.

[6/22/15, 11:08:35 PM] Iskandar: Well, the only other dragon about is me. And I'm not interested.

[6/22/15, 11:09:45 PM] Crow: Martivir: Well that doesn't matter as much as being impressive.

[6/22/15, 11:10:33 PM] Wynn: Well, you all have fun discussing that. I've got some training to do.

[6/22/15, 11:10:44 PM] Wynn: Wynn exits!

[6/22/15, 11:11:08 PM] Crow: Valerian frowns. "... I have the weirdest feeling of... portentous doom just now."

[6/22/15, 11:13:58 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Are you sure it wasn't the potato?

[6/22/15, 11:14:04 PM] Crow: Valerian: ... pretty sure.

[6/22/15, 11:14:15 PM] Crow: Malagaste: They look pretty gross.

[6/22/15, 11:14:36 PM] Crow: Valerian: What do mushrooms look like before they've been washed?

[6/22/15, 11:14:42 PM] Crow: Malagaste: ... point.

[6/22/15, 11:15:06 PM] Iskandar: ... here, I'll show you.

[6/22/15, 11:15:24 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar goes and peels a potato.

[6/22/15, 11:15:32 PM] Crow: Martivir: Maybe it's a helmet bothering your tummy.

[6/22/15, 11:16:07 PM] Iskandar: Unless Val's been eating armored mice, that's not even a concern.

[6/22/15, 11:16:18 PM] Crow: Martivir: Oh, right.

[6/22/15, 11:17:01 PM] Crow: She makes a face. "You can get horrible indigestion from armor. Especially the cheap kind."

[6/22/15, 11:17:30 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar finishes peeling the potato, displaying it to Mal. "See?"

[6/22/15, 11:18:02 PM] Crow: Mal: It's white inside. And... dampish.

[6/22/15, 11:18:52 PM] Crow: Martivir: It's so dry in here... I'm going to go and find someplace damper.

[6/22/15, 11:19:05 PM] Crow: Mal: Like the inside of potato?

[6/22/15, 11:19:15 PM] Crow: Martivir: ... but much larger.

[6/22/15, 11:19:26 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar then dices up the potato.

[6/22/15, 11:19:29 PM] Crow: She scoops up her beautiful dress.

[6/22/15, 11:19:41 PM] Crow: Valerian: Frying it up, or baking it?

[6/22/15, 11:20:04 PM] Iskandar: You can go to the baths, but there's probably not enough room in there for your true form.

[6/22/15, 11:22:00 PM] Crow: Marti nods, and heads off.

[6/22/15, 11:22:34 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar starts frying up the potatos, adding some spices and stuff.

[6/22/15, 11:23:06 PM] Crow: Malagaste: ... it smells good. Kind of like mushrooms, actually. Although more like brown ones than white ones.

[6/22/15, 11:26:00 PM] Iskandar: Well, try some.

[6/22/15, 11:26:08 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar hands him a fork.

[6/22/15, 11:27:22 PM] Crow: Malagaste blinks, and takes a bite, chewing tentatively. "... oh, that's not bad. It's kind of like a... sort of a... mushroomy taste, baked mold texture."

[6/22/15, 11:27:54 PM] Iskandar: Potatoes. THey're a root vegetable.

[6/22/15, 11:30:00 PM] Crow: Malagaste: It's mostly mushrooms and mold at home. And beef and spider.

[6/22/15, 11:41:08 PM] Iskandar: Well. We have beef. And venison.

[6/22/15, 11:41:54 PM] Crow: Malagaste: What's venison?

[6/22/15, 11:42:46 PM] Iskandar: Deer.

[6/22/15, 11:43:28 PM] Crow: Malagaste: I've seen pictures. Don't they have horns?

[6/22/15, 11:44:47 PM] Iskandar: Antlers. Yes.

[6/22/15, 11:44:58 PM] Iskandar: We have some in the Forest. Have you seen the Forest yet?

[6/22/15, 11:45:41 PM] Crow: Malagaste: I looked in, but it looked... you know... topsidey.

[6/22/15, 11:46:01 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Bright, with lots of .... space.

[6/22/15, 11:46:46 PM] Iskandar: Iskandar nods. "Yeah, I can see why that would be discombobulating."

[6/22/15, 11:47:03 PM] Crow: Malagaste: And a lot of green stuff.

[6/22/15, 11:50:05 PM] Iskandar: Well, in any case. Janis and some of the others go hunting and bring in deer that we put in the larder.

[6/22/15, 11:50:41 PM] Crow: Malagaste: Creepy.