Masters of Eothia 1-20

Yasei, meekly to the group: "Master Xolag is no master of mine, for I serve no other but Shōgun Ashikaga.  A samurai chooses to serve a master and does it out of respect and love, not because they are forced.  Service is not demeaning; service is an expression of prowess and pride.  I serve the Shōgun because I am strong enough to serve with flawless perfection and consummate ability.  When I am no longer able enough, I would take my own life rather than serve another Master.  Come, let us see what this Master Xolag requests." [she snarls out 'master' rudely every time she says 'Master Xolag']

You begin to head up the stair case to Xolag's quarters. As you climb the stairs, you can FEEL a presence. Your fight or flight instincts are shouting flight to loudly in your subconscious, it's unnerving. You reach the top of the stairs and a giant wooden door leads in to the room. It's been left open. As you walk through the doorway, a feint shimmer surrounds you as if some kind of barrier has just allowed you to enter.

The room is around half the size of the entire second floor to itself. A large living room area greets you as you enter with animal skin rugs and dark wood decor. A balcony surrounds the level with 360* views of the land. A number of varying raised platforms separate the space in to seperate rooms and at the top, leaning over a hand rail, is Xolag. He leans over the railing and although you cannot see his eyes, you feel them looking at you.

Dani: You've felt this kind of presence only once before- while you were in the presence of August. Now you think of it- you recall him also being referred to as a ''champion of the realm" however only by others.

"I thank you for coming." He says, in a low, booming voice as he begins walking down the various levels to greet you at the bottom floor. "I trust your time spent in my guild has been pleasent?"

Oh, this is interesting. You should probably run.
Huh? why?
Welp, i'm just saying, you could either fight, or fly. I'm choosing fly.
No. I'm going to wait. 
Don't say I didn't warn you.

"No, not exactly.." Cora says, thinking about Ren, her trashed room, the rust puppies, Yasei's cryptic foreign talk, and this person named Aerik.

Yasei: "Our time here has been most, ..., intriguing."

Watatsumi, still residing on Yasei's shoulder, cowers in to the nape of Yasei's neck, afraid of Xolag.

Danica seemed impassive, but the back of her neck began to sweat. Her Sensei, Ken Shirowata, was a man who could kill with the touch of a finger and yet Joseph Dreadnaught, the Citadel's 'August Lawbringer', could consistently defeat him whenever they demonstrated for the younger trainees. He had this same aura of danger.

Wow, I would love something for this headache, she thought..

Xolag approaches Yasei. ”Hopefully... ‘intriguing’ means good... but I somehow doubt that, princess.” he says, with a sly look. He reaches out to Watatsumi and gives her a little tickle under the chin. He smiles weakley and says “Rothar de lach.” In Draconic with voice which sounded smooth and magical. If you understand Draconic:

Whatever he said, it seemed to put the small dragon to ease. He eyes Cora off intriguingly before walking over to a large keg and pouring himself an ale while looking outside. “Firstly, my congratulations on your liberation of the City of Rust. I believe that the uprising resulted in the death of a Brother and the retreat of the Barbarians. The natural inhabitatnts have returned and have agreed to grant safe passage to the civilians via tunnels which lead close to the perimiter of the desert.” He turns to face you, either to formally address you or to see your reaction to the news while taking a long slurp of ale.

“My apologies about your room, miss Cora. However I believe that your presence here has been noticed by a certain group of individuals who have recently been beginning to cause issues for us and the guild. As you know, we uphold very strict laws and standards regarding our hunting practice. A few of our more... questionable members have traditionally found this restriction frustrating.

Recently, a certain unknown individual has been recruiting these hunters I believe and have been operating out of a camp of their own, not too far north east from here. They have been hunting inhumanly and immorally, even ambushing hunters of our own during hunts. I would like to task you girls with the investigation and handelling of this issue for me. I am sure you would like to investigate your persuers and with our one and only current pit fighter champion in your party, let along a pupil of Mr Shirowata himself, I’m sure you’re in good hands!”

"What else do you know about this..certain group of individuals?" Cora asks carefully. "And yes. I would like to investigate these..people. When can we leave?"

You're going to kill him, aren't you?
Why would I do that. I don't even know him.
You used to.
Then tell me who he is.
Mmmm..not yet. This is more fun.
Then i'll find out myself.
Hope you like surprises.

Danica froze in shock. She had not expected to hear that at all.

Cora looked around questionably. Who was the pitfighter "in our group."? Certainly not her. She was distracted in her thought by the sudden look on Dani's face.

"Dani..?"

Bowing her head in slight reverence towards Xolag, she politely questions: "Perhaps these other hunters are followers of Quinterra, Champion Xolag?  And who is to be your Disciple, hmmm?  Perhaps young Rosli here would suit that position quite nicely?"

Danica started for a moment and then smiled wryly at Cora. "Everything is fine, I merely was not expecting to hear my mentor's name mentioned."

Seeing Xolag up close Rosli will sink behind the group and try to avoid his gaze. 

Cora: “I don’t know much. Their new leader seems to have recently appeared out of nowhere. My eyes and ears haven’t seen him before. This group has proved to be a big enough pain to get my attention, but they are below by level. I have larger matters at hand, which is why I am tasking you with it.”

“In case you were too deep in your cups to notice, your Tabaxi friend here is our current in house champion! Unfortunately, you may need to place your career on hold in the pits if you wish to complete this task for me.” He says, motioning towards Rosli.

Xolag smiles at Dani’s reaction, before responding to Yasei. ”Ahhh, someone’s been doing their research I see. The rock titans did have followers once... But they are mostly forgotten now. Even finding the ever roaming Quinterra is a feat in itself. Y’know, it’s designed to be a moving vault of protection.

My disciple Ryu is returning from Arid. He was overseeing the developments there while investigating the disappearance of the Thri-Kreen in the area.”

With a more than surprised look on her face "Do you think you could tell the big orc lady for me? She wants me to fight again tonight." 

"*****cat?" Cora asks, a bit confused. "Did you win a contest or something?"

"Yeah, of course. We'll put a pause on your return." Xolag says, with a confused look at Cora.

"So this means you'll follow it up then! I will extend your stay if it hasn't been already. The cave is north east of here- Mr Bradley has a map for you. Inform me when you return." He says, with a wave of his hand.

"A pause? Whatever that means." Cora says to Xolag, and turns to leave, heading to take the map.

She turns to Dani, Yasei, and *****cat. "I have the feeling I need to do this on my own, but you're welcome to come if you want."

Cora spends some time sharpening her blades, cleaning her leathers, and spending a little time in reflection and contemplation. Somebody here knows me. The answers I seek are in that cave.

She takes the map, and is ready to go.

Danica looked at Cora. "Of course I will help."

Cora smiled, popping her blades into their holster, "Whatever happens, always remember: I thought you were a good kisser."