"Great, just great. I finally come out of seclusion, just to die." Malikily holds up his hands, exasperated. "And worse, I die with them." He gestures wildly at the rest of the party. "She is literally on the floor." He points to sheerow, then slouched back in his chair, exhausted.

"That wasn't what I was referring to," Rieka mutters under her breath towards the beyonder, then gives a start as she recognises the town. "Oh no. Oh no no no no no. I can't go back there. I just can't." 

Malikily looks at Rieka. "Wow, you're going to wimp out... now?! Well, I'm leaving. I'm gonna give Aaron a taste of his own medicine." With that Malikily walks toward the portal.

"Hold on for a minute!" Rieka replies, getting up and attempting to grab Malikily by his shirt collar. "You don't know anything about that town. For one, it's nowhere near where we left Aaron and the people there are superstitious and distrusting of nobles. You can't just prance in there expecting everyone to like you."

Athletics check to grab Malikily's shirt: 13

Malikily calmly looks down at her fist on his shirt. "Kindly get your grimy, filthy hands off of me."

"Oh no, I don't think I will," Rieka snaps sarcastically, starting to get angry. "I also think you won't last a minute out there. Trust me, they don't like people who are different."

She lets him go with a shove, hopefully pushing him to the floor, or at least off balance. 

Athletics? 27

Quote from queen_of_ashes19 >>

"Oh no, I don't think I will," Rieka snaps sarcastically, starting to get angry. "I also think you won't last a minute out there. Trust me, they don't like people who are different."

She lets him go with a shove, hopefully pushing him to the floor, or at least off balance. 

Athletics? 27

Rieka pushes Malikily to the floor, and stands over him, her hands on her knees. It's clear that she's angry about a lot of things, and Malikily is the only one she can take her anger out on.

"I don't care if you're a king, or a prince or whatever. I don't care if you think you're the greatest person in the world. In this town, you will follow my lead, so that we can get out as quickly as possible and deal with Aaron," she practically growls. "And once that's done, we can say our goodbyes and never see each other again. But for now, we are going to need to work as a team."

She pauses to take out her flail, wrapping the chain around her hands a few times while not breaking eye contact. 

"Got that, Waterbearer?"

Intimidation: 19

Rubbing his large hand down his flat face, Xo crouches and slumps down against the wall. He then rubs his forehead with his long claws as if he were having a headache. He sees Rieka masterfully throw Malikily onto the floor only for her to ask a weak question; he finds that silly. At least it was a quick, easy, and mostly painless death.

Malikily smiles and chuckles quietly. "Fine then, but watch your back Greytail, there may be a knife in it." With that he gets up and walks toward the portal.

Quote from Dndlover_2 >>

Malikily smiles and chuckles quietly. "Fine then, but watch your back Greytail, there may be a knife in it." With that he gets up and walks toward the portal.

 When the party enters the portal, they find themselves in the town of the Outskirts of the Darkness, the hometown of Rieka. Looking back on the portal, they find it an entrance to a bookstore.

Quote from AaronFirehand >>

>>

“Not quite. I did say that time needed you. Which is why I need you to go through that portal.” Double doors open to reveal an odd town that Rieka recognizes.

"...Portal?" The fairy looks up at the double doors, still sobbing. She breathes in and out, whispering "Calm," and standing back up. "Reika? You know that town? I don't mean to pry but what's so bad about it?" Her voice is uncharacteristically stoic, and she's wiped away any remaining tears.

She follows the group through the portal, waiting for someone else to do something.

(OOC: Man i missed a lot)

Akyan simply stood and watched Reika push Malikily around. He found it amusing, though slightly annoying since when he tried to beat some sense into the Genasi, everyone tried to stop him. Oh well, at least it was Malikily on the floor and not Reika.

When the enter the portal, Akyan looks around. "Hmm. I've never been here before... and I've been a lot of places."

Rieka covers her face with her hood as she walks through the door, and whispers to Sheerow. "In this town, you can call me Isla - no, bad idea, call me Daciana. Yeah, there aren't any Dacianas around here." She purposely ignores the fey's actual question. 

With a sigh, she looks up at the sky, trying to discern whether or not they'd have to stay the night there. Survival: 18 She ignores anyone passing by, and she seems nervous - it's clear she isn't comfortable here, despite it being the kind of town that suits her, with most people dressed in drab clothing and the buildings old and slightly run down. There is no sense of wealth here. 

"Okay, Daciana. Same as last time, call me 507." She sighs, and not even bothering to put on a disguise she follows 'Daciana,' helping wherever possible.

(ooc: Help action time! Reika, you can roll with advantage next time you make a skill check.)

“Alright Daciana,” Akyan gives her a sidelong look, “I expect some explaining later.” 

(thankyou Sheerow!)

"You don't - I - it's not.." Rieka splutters, not sure how to tell Sheerow that she's the only one who needs to change her name. "Alright, ok. If you want to, 507."

She sighs, fidgeting with her earrings again. "That's fair, Akyan. I can do that. To a certain extent, anyway." 

Akyan nods then looks at whatever lays before them, "So, where are we going now? As I said, I don't know my way around here."

(Deleted post)

The Outskirts of the Darkness has changed since Rieka left. The people are more cautious to outsiders, and any magic is viewed as witchcraft.

Rieka forces herself move towards the inn in the centre of town. "Best to stay the night, then leave immediately in the morning," she grunts to the others. "If one of you guys would be kind enough to secure rooms for us, that would be great. Also, word of advice, don't use magic - especially not you, Akyan, the townsfolk aren't overly fond of the drow."

She keeps her head down. It's been 10 years...would they even remember me?